Second Chances
by mph1473
Summary: Post-AYITL, Three months after their Wild Ride through New Hampshire Rory decides to try and salvage whatever is left of her career when Logan calls with an offer she can't refuse. Can she salvage her career, repair her relationship with the one man she's ever truly loved and raise a kid? And no Gilmore Girls fic is complete without coffee
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Ok, so my theory is that it can go one of two ways with Logan. It either ends really well or it will go down in flames. I don't think Logan is a bad guy, I actually like him a lot and I've decided to give him a chance here. **

**One thing that bugs me about a lot of the post-AYITL fics is that Rory's career doesn't often come up, so I'm dealing with that. **

**Anyway, on with the show!**

* * *

Rory was sitting on the couch that sat in the diner apartment looking at the ultrasound that she got from her latest doctor's appointment. This wasn't her first appointment but now the picture clearly showed a baby. A little tiny person who was half her and half Logan.

That was the other reason for her silence, she was trying to figure out how to tell him that she was pregnant. She had put off telling him just in case something went wrong, she hadn't wanted to completely destroy his life for no good reason. But now, she was going to have to tell him. Rory looked around the apartment and it suddenly occurred to her that she couldn't live here much longer. Strangely enough, the positive pregnancy test pulled her out of her downward spiral and she called in a handful of favours and started freelancing again, but she knew she couldn't do that for much longer and tried to find a steady job. She pulled out her computer and started checking for job openings, she decided to branch out from simply journalism hoping that would lead to better results. As she was updating her resume her cell phone rang, she picked it up without checking the ID. If she had she might have known that the call could change her life.

"Hello," Rory answered absentmindedly as she typed on her computer.

"Hey, Ace." Rory froze as the voice came through the phone, nearly dropping her computer in her shock. Her computer slid down her lap nearly crashing to the floor, luckily, she caught it and snapped out of her shocked state. "Logan. I…Um…Hi."

She could hear him smirking through the phone before he replied "Hi."

"Logan, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you calling me?" Logan was silent so long that Rory thought that he had hung up before he sighed letting her know that he was still on the line. "I miss you."

"Logan-"

"I know, I know that you didn't want to be someone's mistress, and you deserve SO much more than that, and I wanted to tell you that Odette and I are through. I'm a grown man and I don't need to answer to my father anymore, so I ended it right after I learned something pretty significant." Rory started to panic, he couldn't know about the baby, could he? He is a very powerful man but how would he possibly know? Before her train of thought could go much further he spoke again. "My dad died a few weeks ago."

"What?! Logan, I am so sorry. What happened?" That was the last thing she was expecting to hear.

"He had a massive heart attack. The doctors told him to slow down but you know the dark lord, stubborn old bastard right up until his last breath."

"Logan-"

"No, really. He dropped dead in the head office of a new acquisition, and I'm 90% he blackmailed and threatened the owners into selling it to him."

"Well, he died doing what he loved." They both burst out laughing at that comment. She laughed so hard that she had tears leaking out of her eyes and it was hard to breathe. Once they both calmed down enough Logan began to speak. "Not that I don't love this, or miss it, I did have a real reason for calling."

"Oh?" Rory looked at the ultrasound picture that was sitting on the coffee table thinking that this conversation should be reversed. Her with the news and him unsure exactly what the point of this bizarre phone call was.

"My dad keeled over in the head office of the Brooklyn Daily Post right after all the papers were signed. I swear he did this on purpose to try and see how I'll screw this up."

"You won't screw this up."

"That's actually why I called you."

"Ok, Logan, you've told me three times there was a reason for this slightly odd phone call, and now I'd like to know what it is. So, out with it Huntzberger!"

"Ok, Ace, calm down, I'll tell you." Logan took a deep breath trying to figure out how to phrase this without it coming across as he pitied her. "After I dealt with the mess my dad left us with, I was officially sworn in a CEO of HPG."

"Sworn in, huh? Was it like a presidential inauguration?"

"I felt a little like I imagine LBJ felt like after JFK was shot. All we were missing was a shell-shocked Jackie covered in blood. But after all that I actually tried to run this insane company, and one thing I wanted to deal with was the Post. I had no idea what was I was going into so I started from the ground up. I did learn a thing or two from my dad, and one of them was what to do with a paper you were taking over. One thing I stumbled across was that one of their editors really needs to be put out to pasture. He's in his early eighties and doesn't know how to use a computer, the thing is that he's so set in his ways that he won't allow his staff to use anything from this century and he cannot figure out how the business runs anymore and they wouldn't replace him. It's actually reached the point where they're hemorrhaging money on this one department and losing readers because of it."

"Whoa. What department was this?"

"It was Opinions. The issue is that it practically didn't exist anymore. They wouldn't run any of it in the papers and almost none of it got on the website unless the reporters bypassed their editor and went straight to the Editor in Chief."

"What the hell was he still doing there?"

"Simple. The previous owner was scared of Grandfather."

"What on earth does he have to do with this? He's been dead almost ten years."

"They were cousins."

"Seriously?"

"Yup." Logan said popping the P' "Ace, I thought you had learned by now that the inbreeding and nepotism in this industry and Hartford high society runs deep."

"I know, but I don't understand how it got that bad."

"The dark lord himself couldn't figure it out. I'll let you in on a little secret. HPG was dangerously close to floundering because Heir Hunztberger refused to believe that print was dying and that he couldn't figure out how the new technology worked or how to make money with it. Here's the kicker, I was the one who pulled HPG out of financial ruin because they hadn't figured out that this business isn't run by big men in expensive suits anymore, it's run by the person who catches the moment with a camera. Even though it's still who gets the information out there first, it's timed in SECONDS not days, SECONDS. I showed the brass that, I fixed it, but then there is still this. What the hell was he trying to do with this? I don't get it!"

"That was a Gilmore worthy rant. And Logan, I know how the industry has changed, trust me, I'm VERY aware of how different things are. I don't know what he was going to do with the crotchety curmudgeon of an old man in Brooklyn, but guess what? It isn't up to him anymore, he has absolutely ZERO control. YOU have all the power here, YOU are in control. So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get rid of the curmudgeon in Brooklyn with someone who knows how to work a computer, and I'm going to move back to New York."

"Good for you. You saved the company, now it's your turn to run it. So, what's your first decree?"

"That's actually why I called-"

"LOGAN! Seriously!?"

"C'mon Ace, you know you needed context for the statement."

"Well, what is it?"

"Would you like the job as opinions editor for the Brooklyn Daily Post?" It was dead silent on the other end of the phone for at least two minutes. "Ace?" After another beat of silence, he tried again "Rory? Are you still there?"

"What?" It was so soft that he might have missed it if he hadn't been listening closely for her to say something.

"I asked if you wanted the job as-"

"No, I know what you said I just need a minute to think and to process it."

"Ok." Logan waited, hoping she would say something soon.

"WHAT THE HELL LOGAN?" At least he got a response from her.

"I offered you a job."

"Why?"

"Because I'm desperate, I need someone who'd be willing to take on a pretty messy job and is really good at what they do. Without needing supervision."

"Logan, I haven't had a steady gig in almost five years. The freelancing was as close as I got to steady employment. And I don't like handouts. I don't need them."

"This isn't a handout! I'm desperate, you'd be doing me a favour, not the other way around. Look, you managed to pull the Daily News back together after Paris Gellar damn near destroyed the whole place, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES PRAISED YOU PUBLICLY."

"What? No, he didn't."

"Yes, he did."

"Logan-"

"Look, do you have your computer in front of you?"

"Yes, why?"

"Ok, I'm sending you a file." There was some shuffling on Logan's end before he picked the phone up again. "Ok, I'm sending you the video. Can you put me on speaker while you watch it, please?"

"Sure." Rory put the phone on speaker right as a new email landed in her inbox. Rory clicked on it and then a video popped up of an interview between Mitchum Huntzberger and Barrack Obama. The interview consisted of Obama's experience on the campaign trail and his favourite moments. She couldn't figure out why Logan thought this was so important until Obama started talking about his experience with journalists. "As a general rule, I'm not a big fan of journalists. So many of them aren't in it to spread significant information they're in it to cause manipulate public discourse one way or another. They either want things to stick to the status quo and they will do and write whatever is necessary in order to keep things the same, or they want to disrupt things, which causes people to distrust the media. But, my opinion changed when I was on the campaign. A reporter by the name of Rory Gilmore showed me that even some of the freshest faces still wanted to spread what was important, she didn't want to manipulate things, she simply wanted to spread important information in a way that could be understood. I met her while she was at Yale and worked for the Daily News and I was so glad that she was starting her career with me. She is a brilliant journalist and the industry needs more people like her." The interview kept going but Rory didn't hear any of it.

"No way," Rory said to herself forgetting that Logan could hear her.

"Yes, way," Logan said, pride in his voice. Rory was absolutely stunned that Barrack Obama had said such wonderful things about her. Then a thought occurred to her. "Wait, how did I not know this existed? And why has my career stalled out, it never really got started actually, if the president of the United States said that I was brilliant and that the news industry needed more people like me? I'm pretty sure THE PRESIDENT overrules Voldemort."

"It was never released. I found it in a safe that I stumbled across by accident. He's got one of these safes hidden behind a painting and I found it in there. I'm not sure why it was never released."

"What's your best guess."

"Rory-"

"Logan, please." After everything that happened between them, he couldn't deny her anything, especially with that voice that came hand in hand with her big doe eyes.

"Look, I think that he felt threatened by you. He wasn't able to stop you from getting a job that would open all the doors to your career and then have the President blatantly tell him that more people should be like you and less like him and that HE was the reason the president didn't like journalists scared the shit out of him. I'd like to release it now though if that's ok."

"I'm not sure I'm the one you have to ask."

"You want me to call up Barrack Obama and tell him my father never released an exclusive interview, and that act brought him down in the polls because he promised transparency and right out of the gate, we didn't release an interview because my father was being a jackass."

"Yes."

"I can't just make unilateral decisions without consulting anyone. This could spell disaster for the company."

"Your father made quite a few unilateral decisions. Hiding this in the first place, shipping you off to London after your graduation and a thousand other things I can't even name. You're the captain now, do what you want."

"Did you just reference a Tom Hanks movie in a pep talk?"

"I'm a Gilmore, what did you expect?"

Logan sighed, thinking about just how right Rory was. Mitchum didn't just make unilateral business decisions, he completely disregarded his family and what he was best and what would make him look good. "Ok, I'll do it on one condition. Come in and talk to the editor in chief of The Post, take a look around, get a feel for the place and if you still don't want the job then I'll leave it alone. Ok?"

Rory looked at the ultrasound one more time thinking that she was being handed an opportunity to tell Logan everything, plus she might be able to salvage the remnants of her career if she went. It was time to be a grow up and face whatever music was coming. "Ok, I'll come and meet the editor and the staff, but I want us to have lunch after my meeting."

"Brilliant! Thank you, Ace! Of course, I'll have lunch with you after. I'll block out a couple of hours in my schedule that way we can catch up."

"Send me the information for the meeting and where we're having lunch and I'll see you then."

"Will do, Ace. I will see you then." Rory disconnected and stared blankly at the wall trying to process what just happened. _Screw this, I need coffee._

* * *

Rory went tearing into the Crap Shack looking for Lorelai. "MOM! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Lorelai came running down the stairs, breaking the first Gilmore Girl rule, at her daughter's shout. To find Rory crashing through the kitchen looking for the coffee grounds.

"Sweets! What's going on?" Rory didn't seem to hear her, she was focused on her quest for coffee. "Kid? What's happening?" When she still didn't respond Lorelai decided just to shout at her. "RORY GILMORE!" Rory stopped suddenly holding the cookie jar and looked up at her mom. "While I love the single-minded coffee search, why are you screaming?"

"You're never going to believe it. I need coffee and so will you, so get to brewing! Oh my god."

"Rory, sit down, I'll get the coffee then you're going to tell me what's going on. But you're going to have to give Mommy something, you're making me panic."

"Logan called."

"Yep, we need lots of coffee for this."

Five minutes later, there were four cups of tar strength coffee on the table and a suddenly calm Rory.

"Ok, what is going on?" Lorelai said after taking a swig of the worlds strongest coffee.

"I need to show you something then I'll tell you everything."

"Seriously, Kid, explain why you came in here screaming like a mandrake!"

"Harry Potter? Really mom?"

"FOCUS!"

Rory just pulled out her laptop and played the video of the Obama/Huntzberger meeting that Logan sent her. Lorelai watched the whole thing then nearly dropped her mug when Obama started praising Rory.

"Wait? What?" Lorelai said confused when she got to the end of the video. "Kid! This is great! The President gave you his seal of approval! You could be the inspiration for the next Spotlight or The Post! Wait, then why don't you have a steady gig? I love you kid, and I know you've worked your ass off so I'm confused?"

"Apparently this was never released. Mitchum kept the tape in a safe in his office that Logan found and all digital files vanished somehow."

"Oh my god, that butt-faced miscreant! How dare he think he can screw with my loin fruits career and get away with it! I'm going to hurt him so bad that he'll wish he was dead." Rory started laughing confusing Lorelai.

"Babe? What's funny? Is it the hormones?"

"I'm laughing because when I first met Logan I called him a butt faced miscreant. Also, Mitchum's dead."

"WHAT! Way to bury the lead hun!"

"You have no idea. He died a few weeks ago, dropped dead in the head office of his latest newspaper."

"So, Logan's a CEO huh? You picked a good guy as a baby daddy. Well, the engaged to another person was not a smart thing but he's got good genes there."

"Mom! Also, he's not engaged anymore. I'm not really sure what happened but he told me that he was grown man and didn't have to listen to him anymore, I'm just not sure if this was separate from his dads death because he told me both things in one sentence."

"Whoa. The kid doesn't mess around when he means business."

Rory raised her eyebrows, not really sure where to start with that comment but decided to let it go, considering there was more pressing issues to talk about. "There's more. He offered me a job. The newspaper HPG just took over is in a state, specifically, the opinions department, the editor of the department is completely useless who is costing the paper money, Logan asked me to take over."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Editor in Chief?"

"No, opinions editor."

"Where? What paper?"

"New York City. The Brooklyn Daily Post. It's not the Times, but I need to adjust my expectations. I get to be an editor at a paper in New York City. Make actual money and maybe salvage the career that Mitchum Huntzberger tried to destroy."

"Kid, I'm going need a lot more coffee to process all this." Rory nodded and held out her cup for a refill.

Half an hour later the Gilmore Girls, mostly Lorelai, had drunk three pots of coffee, a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and a box of pop tarts. "Ok, kid, are you going to go for it?"

"I told him I'd come and check out the place, talk to the staff and editor in chief before I make a decision."

"Are you going to tell him about your parting gift?"

"We're having lunch after my meetings and I'm telling him then."

"Wow kid, but are you sure you want to work for the company that destroyed your career?"

"Mitchum destroyed my career, Logan's helped me any chance he could. I wouldn't be working for Mitchum."

"Yeah, that'd be a little difficult unless we're re-enacting the Walking Dead."

"Your references need some work."

"I'm overwhelmed. Cut me some slack." Lorelai took another swig of her coffee before asking her next question. "When's your meeting?"

"Not sure. But mom, I'm really considering this. It would be a good job, it'd be a career. I know I'd probably be ruffling some feathers if I came in at the editor position, but that was the one thing the dark lord was right about, I was too nice for this profession. It's a cut-throat business and I'm being given an opportunity. If I like it, I'm going to take it."

"Screw coffee, I need a scotch."

* * *

**AN: Well, what do you think? Good, bad, I should crawl back in my hole and never write fanfiction again? **

**Review if you please! **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Oh my god, thank you guys so much for the love and positivity to this story! So a lot of stuff happens in this chapter. I couldn't find a good place to end it that's why it's so long. But I am hoping that this story won't go much beyond 5 or so chapters. But I've said that before and that's not how it worked out.**

**I changed when exactly Mitchum died so the timeline would make more sense. He now died a few weeks earlier instead of a few days. I updated the first chapter with that.**

**On with the show!**

* * *

A week later Rory was walking into the offices of the Brooklyn Daily Post. She walked in and asked to see the editor in chief. Once she told the secretary who she was and who she was there to see she was quickly rushed back and introduced to Josh Walker. Josh was in his late fifties with dark hair, brown eyes and wore slightly out-dated suites. But, he had an air of intelligence, superiority, and kindness to him that Rory immediately liked. He showed her around and spoke to her about paper and what they were hoping to change and how to increase their readership. He explained that her job was pretty simple, to take over the role as Opinions Editor, her main priority would be to make the opinions section something that people could read again and want to read. It was pretty similar to what she did at the YDN, just with a focused subject and she wasn't in charge of the nitty-gritty details of running a paper daily. After a long conversation with Josh and a tour of the newsroom, Rory asked to meet those who wrote for the Opinions beat. "Ok, well then come here." Josh motioned her over to a desk a little removed from the chaos of the main newsroom. "This is Charlotte, she writes our opinion pieces."

"Yeah, I write them then they never get into the paper because of the damn dinosaur the owners won't fire," Charlotte said in annoyance as she stood and shook Rory's hand. "Charlotte Smith"

"Rory Gilmore," Rory said shaking her hand. "Wait, it's just you? For a paper, this size I expected a few more of you."

"Nope, just me. Everyone else left, I decided to stick it out, pay my dues. I hope that I'll get a reference out of it though."

Josh spoke up at this point, "Hopefully by the end, you'll feel like you got more out of your time here, then a simple reference." At Charlotte's confused expression Josh elaborated. "Well, Charlotte, you know that the paper was sold, right?"

"Right, what type of journalist would I be if I didn't."

"Well, new owners are putting the dinosaur out of its misery. We're getting a new Opinions editor."

"Really! That's amazing!" Charlotte squealed at a pitch that reminded Rory of her LDB days where she encountered more socialites and social climbers then she would like to admit.

"You wouldn't be upset that you're not the editor?" Rory asked trying to get a read on Charlotte and what the reaction would be to her arrival.

"Not at all. I'm not qualified for it. I haven't been a reporter long, I need to get used to this before I try to be in charge." Rory was nodding along, making lists in her head of what needed to be done when she was interrupted by Charlotte. "Are you taking over as the editor?"

Josh and Charlotte looked at her expectantly waiting for an answer. "Honestly, I don't know. I want to but I'm not sure. I have some personal stuff going on and I'm not totally sure that I'm qualified for the position."

"Well, I honestly don't care if you think you're qualified or not. As long as you'd be good at the job and can pull us back from the cliff we are dangerously close to, I'd be happy to work for you." Charlotte said sitting back down at her desk.

Rory and Josh walked back to his office to talk a little more. The meeting was wrapping up as Rory was packing up to leave Josh spoke up, "I really do hope that you take the job. I know you think that you aren't qualified but you're more qualified than the person who currently has the position, and you can't possibly cause more harm than the mess we're currently in. I saw your resume and your portfolio, I think you would be perfect for the job. So, what if you know the new owner, you're good at what you do and you should take advantage of the fact that you have THEE greatest connection in the industry. If you don't use it to your advantage, you aren't nearly as smart as Logan and I think you are. And I am always right, about these things." Rory sat back down and smiled at Josh, thinking that no one had called her smart in quite some time. "As for your personal issues, we've got good maternity leave and there is actually a daycare in the building. You could check it out if you wanted."

Rory stared open-mouthed at Josh not sure how to respond, Rory eventually managed to splutter out a "What?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out. My wife and I have four kids and she was pregnant six times actually, I can pick up the signs of a pregnancy faster than most men."

Rory snorted at that. "Hopefully the father isn't as in tune as you are, but knowing my luck he'll be able to smell it on me or something."

"I take it he doesn't know yet?"

"No. I'm telling him today."

"Well, good luck. And please consider the position." Rory smiled then gathered her things and left.

* * *

An hour later Rory walked into PEPS coffee shop in Brooklyn. She quickly scanned the tiny coffee shop for Logan and spotted him in the corner with two cups of coffee in front of him while he typed a message out on his iPhone. Rory watched him for a moment before she gathered all her strength and went over to him. "Hi, Logan." Logan quickly looked up and practically leapt out of his seat and gave her a hug. She gave herself a moment to enjoy the hug, after everything that had happened it felt good to feel safe in his arms again.

Logan slowly backed away so he could look at Rory properly, "Hey Ace." They sat back down at the table and Logan pushed a cup of coffee towards her.

"So, what did you think? Are you going to save me from committing fortune 500 suicide?" Rory laughed thinking there's no way he'd be bad at this. "Logan, you are good at what you do. You won't fail at this. It's in your blood, whether you like it or not. If the Post fails, it's just as much Mitchum's fault as yours."

"I'm about 1000% certain that no one else would see it that way. It'd be my fault. I think some of the board members still see me as the frat boy screw up from before we met. So, will you help me save the Post from Hartford nepotism?"

"I'm pretty sure this is nepotism," Rory said smirking

"Qualified nepotism, though. You're more qualified than the current editor."

"Josh said the same thing. He also told me that I have the best connection in the industry and if I didn't use it I wasn't nearly as smart as he thought I was."

"Smart man, that Josh. But, it's true. You have the best connections and you should use them. I only met Josh once, but he was very smart and he knows what he's doing. When I told him that I wanted to bring someone in he was thrilled, he didn't care how I knew them, as long as they were qualified. He reminds me a bit of Hugo that way."

"How is Hugo? I haven't seen him since I left the campaign."

"He's good. He was surprised that he hadn't heard more about you. He said that he thought you'd have a Pulitzer by now. He lost a hundred bucks in that bet."

"Tell him I'm sorry he bet on the wrong horse. But, I've realized I don't need to have a Pulitzer prize or be the next Christiane Amanpour to be happy. I want a steady home, a place for my books, to be able to find my underwear and a steady job." Logan's eyebrows shot up in an almost comical manner at the underwear comment.

"What happened to your underwear?" Logan said as he chuckled.

"Oh, when we were still in Vegas I lost some of my things. I was aiming for Kerouac but instead, I was closer to Steve Martin in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Completely hopeless. I want to stay in one place and build a life." Rory stopped and took a swig of her coffee watching Logan's face. He was looking at her like she forgot the punch line to a joke and was waiting for her to finish it.

"Ace! You still haven't given me an answer! Will you take the job?"

"I think I will."

"That's fantastic! Oh, thank you Ace!"

Rory laughed at Logan's excitement and hoped that he was going to be ok about the other piece of news she had to tell him. "You haven't actually told me what you thought of the position. So, what do you think?"

"The department itself is only one reporter, and when I talked to her about taking over she was thrilled and not at all put out that she wouldn't be getting the job. So that was no longer an issue. Since there is only one writer I'll probably have to do a little writing as well to try and create some real content and boost readership before we could hire anyone else. Having the opportunity to write endears me to the position more." Rory and Logan talked for another fifteen minutes about what Rory thought of the position, what the job would entail beyond writing and editing and the logistics of her taking over.

They were going over some of the paper's financials and where they could cut costs when Logan stood to get a refill on their coffee's. "Another coffee Ace?" The question seemed to snap Rory out of her trance. She knew that she shouldn't have any more caffeine that day since she had already gone over her allotted three cups. She knew that if she asked for decaf Logan would ask her if something was wrong, leading her into a conversation she had put off having for months. She thought about it for a second, before she could answer Logan spoke, "Ace? I've never seen you hesitate when offered coffee. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm great." She smiled a little thinking about the souvenir she got from New Hampshire. "Can I get a decaf coffee instead?"

"Decaf? Now you're really worrying me? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I promise. Just go get the drinks then I will tell you everything."

Logan returned as fast as he could with the coffee's, he was dying to know what was going on. He was starting to panic as he put one in front of Rory then sat down across from her. "Ok Ace, you've got to tell me what's going on because I have come up with a whole list of scenarios as to why you wanted decaf and each one is worse than the last. So, can you please put me out of my misery and tell me what is going on?" Rory fiddled with her mug for a moment trying to figure out how to tell him what was going on.

"Do you remember that night at the bed and breakfast that Colin bought in New Hampshire three months ago?"

"Yeah, that was a pretty amazing night. I could never forget it, even if I wanted to. Why?"

"Well," Rory took a deep breath so she could tell him the rest. "It seems I took home a pretty significant parting gift that night."

"What are you talking about?"

"Logan, I'm three months pregnant."

* * *

Silence.

That was all that was coming from Logan. He completely froze after she told him about the baby. She was expecting some sort of reaction, shouting, irritation, in the deepest part of her heart she was hoping for a little excitement, but never silence and it was starting to worry her.

"Logan? Are you ok?" Her voice snapped him out of his trance and the world seemed to come back into focus for him. He looked at Rory and suddenly the information started to sink in.

"You're pregnant?"

"That's what the doctors have been telling me. I'm 13 weeks, they time it from your last period, which I find a little strange considering I can tell you exactly when and where this little bean came into being."

"And it's mine?"

"Logan!"

"I'm sorry, but we were Vegas, and you had Pete-"

"His name was Paul, and we broke up months ago."

"I trust you. If you say it's mine, I believe you. But there was Odette and Vegas and Paul. I just needed to make sure. Look, we were having coffee as friends, or business owner and potential employee and I'm not sure which one. So, I wasn't sure if you were telling me as your boss, your friend, or as the baby's father." That sentence was strange to say but it also felt really good. He and Rory were going to be parents, and maybe there was hope for them after all. "I'm telling you as the baby's father. If I was telling you as my boss you'd probably heard through Josh. And you know, after everything that has happened between us I don't think it's possible to be friends. I mean now we have to try but before all this, I wouldn't have just called you for coffee. So, yes, of course, you're the father!" Rory shouted drawing a little attention to themselves before she calmed down. "I'm sorry, you had every right to ask that but it's been a lot. My life has fallen apart and I'm a complete mess and now the universe sends me a baby."

"No, you're allowed to yell, this is a lot to process." They were quiet before something occurred to Logan. "Wait, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Rory sighed unsure how to tell him exactly what had happened. "I wasn't sure what was happening with you and Odette and I was really worried about how your dad would react. I didn't want to upend your life if something happened to the baby and I really didn't want to give your dad any lea room into forcing me to terminate. The chance of a miscarriage decreases once you're out of the first trimester and you can't terminate after twelve weeks. I was going to call after the twelve-week appointment but you beat me to the punch."

"I would never have asked you terminate the pregnancy, Rory. You should've known that." Logan said with anger.

"No, I know that you wouldn't ask me to. I'm sorry that you thought that. But, I just wasn't sure what kind of crap your dad would throw at me once he found out."

"Even if my dad did something like that, I would've stuck up for you and our kid."

"Logan, I was protecting my baby the best way I knew how." Logan nodded then looked down at the table. They were both silent for a few minutes thinking about all that had happened and where they went from here. Eventually, Logan broke the silence with a question, "You said I beat you to the punch, by calling you. Does that mean you already went to the twelfth-week appointment?"

"I did. It was the day you called me actually. I was sitting on the couch, looking at the ultrasound and it was becoming very real for me. I was going to be a mom. I needed to pull myself together. That meant finding a real steady job and calling you. Then I did what I seem to be best at lately, avoidance and denial, I put off calling you and tried to find some decent steady work, I was in the middle of updating my resume when you called. I figured that this type of dish was better served in person so here we are."

"Here we are." Logan took a swig of his coffee then looked at Rory, "Do you have a picture of the baby? If I'm remembering correctly Honor showed me a picture when she told me she was pregnant, which was around twelve weeks."

"Yep, I've got pictures. Do you want to see?"

"Of course, I do." Rory pulled the ultrasound picture out of her messenger bag and handed it to Logan. When he got it, he looked completely enthralled and amazed by the image. "This one is much more detailed than the first one I had. It looked like a little blob but now it looks like a real baby."

"A real baby. That's our baby." Logan said with a small smile on his face. Rory laughed thinking that if he did that for about two months he'd get to where she was right then. "Yep, a baby."

Suddenly Logan snapped his head up and looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "Rory, I want to be involved. I want to be a dad." Logan smiled at the thought and Rory smiled back. She was so glad that he wanted to be involved, that maybe she and her child's story would be different than the one of her and her mothers.

"Logan, I won't have my child go through what I went through. If you're involved, you have to be there. Show when you say you will, not when it's just convenient for you."

"I want to be completely involved. I won't do to our kid what Chris did to you. I'll be there for everything."

"But, how would Odette feel about that?" Rory didn't want to question Logan, she did trust him but this was bigger than just her and she had to protect her kid.

Logan knew he was going to have to tell Rory the whole story but he hadn't wanted to get into it now. Considering the direction, the conversation took, he should've expected it but he hadn't been. He decided to simply bite the bullet and started the ridiculous tale that was his and Odette's relationship. "She isn't a factor anymore. We are over. I ended things with her a few weeks after I got back from New Hampshire. To be honest we weren't ever really together, to begin with. She was nice, smart and a good friend. She was a lot like Stephanie, but I didn't love her. It took me a while but, about a month after our final goodbye I realized a few things. The thing is my dad controlled every part of my life for so long and even though I made it, and became a success on my own when I came back to the company he thought he had all that power again. But, I realized my dad didn't have half the power he thought he did. He could disinherit me but I had a couple of millions of my own when I was in California and my dad didn't have access to it, and he had nothing to do with it. I still had a stake in the company I helped build out west and I could go back there and take on my dad. The second was that if I left the entire empire would crumble, but it was because my dad couldn't hack it anymore and that would become very clear. Their online presence only exists because of me, if those companies left with me, I could take over HPG with my own company. So, I decided to take control, Odette and I ended it, I called my dad told him that he couldn't control me anymore and that if he wanted to fire me go ahead but that it would be him that went down, not me. The reason that this all started was that my dad was getting desperate with the family business, it takes time to build the type of online presence that he wanted and he wasn't sure how to hack it in the digital world we live in. Which was a first for the Dark Lord. People weren't flocking to HPG outlets like they used to because they weren't as accessible as they needed to be and it was almost too late for anything to be done. He figured that the best way to save the company and get the online presence he needed was to merge with another media company. He had his sights set on Durand Media, the European equivalent to HPG but had a larger online presence and was making more money than HPG. Durand was willing to buy out HPG, but Mitchum wouldn't roll over and sell, instead, they decided to make it personal and got me and Odette involved. I wasn't back at the company at this point, so I hadn't had the chance to get HPG into this decade. Then my dad had a heart attack and I came in to help until he could come back. I managed to pull HPG into the 21st century, then I stuck around to keep it that way. I knew if I'd left things would backslide and believe it or not I don't want to see my families company crash and burn. I also thought that if I saved the company my dad would let go of the ridiculous arranged marriage issue but he didn't. He still wanted to merge the companies and then my mother was pleased that I was marrying 'someone appropriate'." Logan did not tell her that Shira had added that she was pleased that he was seeing sense after he nearly married the gold-digging Gilmore Girl. "Then he'd tell me how would it look if the family business flopped because I couldn't deal with a society marriage."

"Are you telling me that the almighty emperor was brought down by technology?" Rory said completely shocked. In order to make it in this business, you had to stay on top of everything. Especially the latest technology.

Logan laughed at the look on Rory's face. "I know. Social media brought down the newspaper king."

"Mark Zuckerberg needs to be knighted for his unintended consequences of Facebook," Rory said seriously.

"I'll call the Queen," Logan said between laughs. He hadn't laughed this hard or felt this carefree since he and Rory dated in college.

"The sequel to the Social Network should be, 'The Social Network: A Revolution in Blue."

"Or 'A Hostile Political Handover. I think he'd really like that actually. He always thought he was better than everyone and he'd be thrilled to know he brought down the newspaper king."

"You met Mark Zuckerberg?"

"Yeah. We got along really well and he hated that my dad had money and power though he didn't understand what was happening. He actually spoke to him in the same manner that he spoke to my father the same way he spoke to Orrin Hatch, the Republican Senator from Utah. He even laughed at him when he started asking even more ridiculous questions."

"That's amazing. I wish I'd seen Mitchum Huntzberger be laughed at." Rory said through her giggles.

"It was pretty great. My dad then tried to slam Zuckerberg but anyone under the age of 35, including me, was almost immediately on Zuckerberg's side. I think that was the moment my dad really realized that the world had changed and he wasn't a part of it."

Rory and Logan had calmed down when Rory asked her next question. "What exactly did you say to Mitchum? Once you realized all of this."  
"I, strangely enough, took a page out of Zuckerberg's book. I told him that he could butt out of my personal life and I could stay and take HPG into the 21st century, if he didn't I'd leave, take our digitized papers and those who want a real online presence back to my company and watch HPG crumble from the west coast."

"Whoa. How'd he take that?"

"Well, he's dead now so how did you think he took it?"

"He died right after you told him?"

"About a week later. He either had to let the business crumble or let me make my own decisions. Apparently, his heart couldn't take the thought of letting me live my own life."

"Logan, I don't know what to say."

"What is there to say. It'd be funny if it wasn't so depressing."

Rory nodded not knowing how to respond. After a silence that was getting more awkward by the minute, Rory spoke trying to lighten the mood. "You know, you're going be the most eligible bachelor in the whole world. HPG aside, you made your own millions before gaining back your million-dollar inheritance."

"According to the Wall Street Journal, I'm worth about 20 billion dollars."

"TWENTY BILLION DOLLARS!" Rory shouted, making everyone in the café look at them.

"Ace, can you not shout my net worth in public, it draws attention to me. And I'm really trying to avoid that. The paparazzi can't decide if I'm boring or not, and if I stay boring they'll leave me alone."

"Says the leader of Life and Death Brigade."

"Touché. And as for the most eligible bachelor, that's not totally true." Rory looked at Logan completely shocked. He hadn't mentioned anything about seeing anyone else. Rory had never felt so crushed in her life, she really thought that she and Logan had a shot especially with the baby on the way, but it seems that he had truly moved on.

"Oh. Um. Who?" Rory meekly replied, desperately not wanting to show Logan how devastated she was by him finding someone else, but failing horribly.

Logan picked up the distress in Rory's voice and he realized how his statement could've been misinterpreted. "God, Rory no. That's not what I meant." Logan looked Rory trying to figure out exactly how to tell her what he was thinking. He knew that there was more at stake now, and he wasn't going to let his stupid pride or stubbornness rob him of his family as it robbed him of the last ten years he should've been with Rory. "Look, Rory, my father didn't know how to love and he sure as hell didn't see me as anything other than his heir, my mom was only ever in our family for the money, I think she really didn't like me or Honor simply because it messed with her social life. I was raised in a loveless marriage and a loveless environment and I didn't want that life for me or for my kids. There are only a handful of people that I love, I love my sister, she was the closest I ever got to family affection, the Stooges, and Stephanie, they are my real family. And you. I've always loved you, Rory."

"Logan-"

"I'm not telling you this because of the baby." Logan looked down at the sonogram that was on the table in front of him. He smiled thinking about the future that he could have with Rory if he played his cards right. It was a future that he thought was long gone but this baby was giving him a second chance. Maybe the universe picked the exact right moment to send them a baby. "You really are the only person I've ever loved. You and this baby are the only people I'll ever truly love. And I know that I monumentally screwed up. I screwed up when I asked you to marry me, I screwed up when I agreed to the stupid Vegas agreement and I screwed up when I didn't fight for you when you asked me if I was going to marry Odette. I know that you don't trust me anymore but I'm going to do everything I can to try and win back that trust."

Rory let out a choked sob after Logan's declaration, throughout his entire speech she had been trying to hold back the tears she knew were threatening to fall. He was sitting there saying all the perfect things and telling her that she was the only one for him. A speech like that, especially from Logan, would make her go weak at the knees at the best of time but with the added stress of the last year or two, plus the baby wreaking all sort of havoc on her hormones, she was turned into a sobbing pile of goo.

"Ace?" Logan had never really seen Rory cry. He had seen her upset, scared and royally pissed off, but he'd never seen her actually cry. "What is it? What's the matter?" Then a horrifying thought crossed Logan's mind. "Is it the baby?" He asked with a sense of terror he'd never felt before. Rory just shook her head as she started to hiccup from all the crying. Logan got up and crouched next to her chair and started rubbing her back. "Ace, you gotta calm down a little, ok? This can't be good for the baby." Rory suddenly looked down at Logan and grabbed his hand that had been resting on her thigh. "Can you breathe with me, Rory? Please?" Logan started taking slow, deep breaths and Rory began doing it too. Eventually, Rory calmed down and slumped over a little to rest against Logan. He supported her weight while he stood up and sat in the oversized armchair that Rory had been occupying. Once they were sitting in the chair Rory rested her head on his shoulder and basked in the feeling of being safe in Logan's arms.

"Ace?"

"Hmmm?"

"Would you be ok if I called Frank so we could go back to my apartment for a while? I think we've outstayed our welcome."

"You still have Frank?" Rory suddenly asked, sitting up straighter to look him in the eye.

"Welcome back." Logan chuckled, at the glare, Rory was giving him he stopped. "Yes, I still have Frank. I do have some sense of loyalty, and I've always liked Frank."

* * *

Ten minutes later they were happily seated in the back of the black town car the ridiculously rich are famous for. "When were you planning on going back to Stars Hollow?" Logan asked suddenly a little worried and protective of Rory traveling for two or three hours when she was clearly exhausted.

"Tomorrow, actually. Since I was in the city for a possible job, I thought I'd look at different places I could live."

"There's my little list maker. Plus, it gives us a little more time to talk." Logan chewed on the inside of his cheek debating whether to voice his latest voice out loud.

"You know I can feel you thinking over there. It kind of smells like burning rubber." Rory said with a laugh.

"Funny, Ace."

"So, what are you thinking?"

"You could just move in with me if you wanted."

"Logan-"

"No, I know. But it would make things easier once the baby comes, and you wouldn't have to splurge on an apartment if you don't have to."

"As much as I want to, we can't just pick up where we left off. Too much has happened and too much time has passed. It would just add a level of chaos to an already messy situation. Plus, it wouldn't make any sense to live in Manhattan and to work in Brooklyn. I'd have a forty-minute commute if I drove and I'd more than likely be taking the subway. It just makes more sense at this point to have my own place. I learn how to stand on my own two feet again, and to be my own person again. If I moved in with you I wouldn't feel like I did that."

"I know you don't mean to, but it kind of feels like you're pushing me away from you and our kid."

"No! I'm not trying to I swear. There are just steps between here and us being a proper family. Steps I really want to take, in case you were wondering."

"Really?" Logan couldn't help but sound hopeful.

"Really. But we've got to take this slow. I'm just feeling like myself again and with the bean, we can't screw this one up."

"I promise Ace. I wouldn't dare screw this up. There's too much at stake now." Rory smiled at Logan, a real, happy smile, and after all the revelations of the past few hours he couldn't help but giving her a searing kiss.

Rory didn't skip a beat and kissed him back with just as much enthusiasm. When he brought his hand to her waist to pull her closer she tangled her hand in his hair to hold him to her. When he moved his hand up her side, he felt a little bump that hadn't been there before. He pulled away and looked down at her midsection while running his hand across her stomach.

"Logan?" Rory asked a little confused as to his sudden fascination with his stomach.

"You're already starting to show." Logan smiled thinking that it was their baby that was under his hand, inside Rory.

Rory smiled at the look of complete love and awe that was on Logan's face. "Yeah. Just a little, most people think that I'm getting fat and the burgers are finally starting to have some effect on me."

"You're not fat. That's our baby in there, and that is a remarkable thing."

Rory laughed lightly at Logan's statement, thinking that she'd rarely heard him this sappy. "You're going to be a good dad. You know that right?"

"Sometimes I wonder if I'll be any good at this. I had the worst parents for examples, I have no idea how to parent."

"Just do what you would've wanted Mitchum to do. You'll do the exact opposite of what he did. You know how I know you're going to be a good dad?"

"How?"

"You're already excited about and love this baby, and you only found about them a few hours ago."

"I do, I love this baby so much and I'm so happy and excited. I feel like I've swallowed a box of fireworks. Sure, my initial reaction could have been better but I really am so excited."

"Channelling Mathew Crawley are you?"

"Hey, I lived in England for years. It's hard to live there and not get drawn into the Downton Abbey madness. Plus, it seemed like an appropriate metaphor."

"When I found out about our little bean I was scared shit less, and I still am. I've never been someone who gets really excited about babies and I haven't spent a whole lot of time around young kids, who am I to be someone's mom? But, then I had the ultrasound, I saw their head and heard the heartbeat and I knew. I knew I could do this and I was excited to do this. And know that your reaction was better than my mom's."

"What are you talking about?"

"My mom was less than thrilled when she first found out about the pregnancy. She said that I was supposed to have more than she had and that I was ruining my life and that I wasn't supposed to make the same mistakes as her."

"Oh my god."

"Yeah. It wasn't pretty. There was yelling and crying and I stormed out and stayed at Grandma's place for a few days."

"Back to the pool house?"

"No. Grandma's moved up to Nantucket so the Hartford house was empty. It just sold two weeks ago."

"Why did you go home?"

"Luke interfered. I'm not really sure what happened, either he overheard us fighting or mom told him about it. Apparently, he told her that she had gone full blown Emily Gilmore on me and that she had to pull herself together and apologize before things got any worse."

"And did she?"

"She did. I went back to the Hollow but I ended up moving into Luke's old apartment above the diner. It wasn't a permanent solution but I knew that I couldn't live in my childhood bedroom anymore."

"What were you going to do, if something else didn't pop up and you had to stay in the Hollow?" Rory smirked at Logan using a phrase that only townies used.

"I thought about going back for my Masters so I could teach at Chilton. I also learned that Andrew, who owns the bookstore, was thinking of retiring and closing down shop or selling it, so I toyed with the idea of buying the bookstore."

"You thought about buying the bookstore?"

"I did. I wasn't keen on going back for my masters. If I had thought about it a year ago I might have done it, but I can't picture grad school, a baby, and a new job all at once."

"I can see you being a teacher, you always liked school and loved learning. But when you put it like that, it would be a lot. What stopped you from buying the bookstore?"

"I wanted to see if I could find any grip in journalism. Andrew said he wouldn't officially sell for a few months so I had some time before I had to make a decision."

"Well, I'm glad that you didn't buy the bookstore. If you had I don't know if we'd be here now."

"I would've called you Logan. I really would've."

"Yeah, but all of this," He gestured wildly between them "Would have much harder. And I think you would've sold yourself short if you bought the bookstore. You are too talented to be working in a bookstore in the smallest town in Connecticut."

"I'm glad someone has some faith in me."

"Always, Ace."

* * *

Unknowing to them, Frank had been listening intently the entire ride. Normally he didn't listen to the conversations that are had in the backseat of the cars he drives. But, when Logan mentioned them having a baby Frank's ears perked up. He had driven Logan since before he met the lovely Gilmore Girl and thought that the two were perfect for each other. They balanced each other out. He showed her how to have fun and she showed him that there was more to life than partying and drinking. He was glad that it seemed like the two were working things out and he hoped those two would really get a happily ever after.

What could he say, he was always a romantic.

* * *

**AN: That was a beast! I hope you guys liked it. The part when Logan was explaining the whole Odette/Mitchum situation sounded like a cop-out to me, so I rewrote three times and I hope it rings true, without sounding like a cop-out. **

**My big issue with writing these types of fics is that I can't get in Logan's head the same way I can with other characters. I hope it sounded accurate. **

**Also, I had to make a few things up because I have NO FREAKING CLUE how much a CEO of a massive publishing company would make. I figured it was less than Steve Jobs but more then what I'd consider insane. **

**Review if you please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you for all the love for this story. I'm so glad you guys are liking it! Apparently, there were a few errors in the previous chapter, I fixed them so the whole thing should make more sense now. Now, my downfall as a writer is that I like detail and research. I can't just jump into it, I need more information to paint the whole picture and that is why this chapter is so long. **

**All of the places mentioned in this fic really do exist! Look them up. Plus I'm jealous of anyone who lives near that park that I mention. **

**On with the show!**

* * *

Twenty minutes later Rory and Logan were sitting in Logan penthouse apartment. Rory was no longer in awe of places like these like she was when she was in Yale. She spent enough time with the society types to know that these kinds of houses rarely hold the type of atmosphere she thought was common in homes. They were often cold and intimidating, a place that Rory wouldn't want to live unless they could make it a home.

Logan had tried his best to make the place homey but it was very large and it was obvious that Mitchum had purchased it. Logan had a tendency to go for more open and spacious places that he could give a homey feel, while Mitchum went for cold, drafty, and intimidating.

"Are you hungry?" Logan asked as he wandered into the kitchen. "Are you craving anything? I know that when Honour was pregnant she craved all sorts of weird things." Rory smiled at Logan, she knew that she dropped the largest bomb ever on him but he was taking it all in stride and trying to help with little understanding of what is actually helpful.

"I'm not craving anything right now. But bacon makes me sick, so if we could avoid that I'd be grateful."

"Ok, no bacon. Are there any other foods that you need to steer clear of?"

"I never liked the smell of fish and it seems to be worse now, and if I have too much coffee, or if it's too strong, it'll come back up."

"Wait, but you had some at the café earlier?" Logan said with a great amount of confusion.

"It was the one cup, it wasn't Gilmore grade and I drank it slowly."

"I'm impressed, you've always been my little caffeine addict."

"Yeah, my mom wasn't impressed with that. She said you tarnished the bloodstream with your tea drinking ways."

Logan laughed as he went through the fridge looking for something to eat. "Ok, well I could grill up some chicken for us if you'd like."

"That sounds great. Oh, can I have an apple with it?"

"There are the cravings." Logan said with a laugh "I can do you one better Ace" He pulled out an apple pie out of the fridge that Honour had brought over the last time she was here. "Apple's and insane amounts of sugar all at once. How does that sound?"

"That sounds amazing."

Rory sat at the kitchen counter and watched as Logan cooked dinner. They had started talking about work again, leaving the heavier conversation until later.

"Since I already told you that I'm going to be taking the editor position at the Post do I still need to contact Josh and tell him? And who has my contract?"

"Yes, call him in the morning, though he might not pick up considering it will be Saturday and tell him that you're taking the position. He would have your contract and you might want to tell him about our situation, that way no one gets any surprises. How much does he know?"

"He knows we know each other, he knows I'm pregnant, but he doesn't know –just- um, how involved you were in that." Rory stuttered out the last part of her sentence.

"Seriously, Ace." Logan laughed. He knew it was simply her innocence that never fully went away that caused her to phrase things like that, not that she was ashamed of him. "We've been sleeping together for years, I've seen you naked thousands of times and I've heard you say _much _dirtier things."

"Logan" Rory laughed. She couldn't believe he was actually saying these things.

"You can say that I got you pregnant, or I knocked you up. It doesn't matter you say it, it's still true and I'm glad that I did if I may say so."

"I'm glad you did it too, and it's good to know your ego is still intact."

"You know it." Logan started chopping some vegetables before he spoke again. "You said you were staying the night and looking at apartments tomorrow."

"Yeah?"

"Where were you planning on staying?"

"In a hotel."

"Stay with me."

"Logan, I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"I have extra rooms, take your pick. Plus, you won't have to pay for a hotel room you don't need. That way I can come with you, apartment hunting tomorrow."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Please Ace. If I see where you are going to live it will make me feel better about us living apart while you're pregnant and after the baby is born."

Rory sighed, she honestly should have expected this, he always was protective of her and it'll only get worse now that she's having their baby. She knew he means well but she didn't want him paying for it or trying to convince her to live in a more expensive place. "Ok, but on two conditions."

"Name them."

"First, you are helping me tell Grandma about the baby."

Logan chuckled knowing that the Gilmore women have always had a rocky relationship, and it always came to a head when unplanned babies were involved. "Deal. What's your other condition?"

"You don't offer to pay for my apartment or ask me to live in Manhattan or somewhere that is too far away from the Post for it to be reasonable. I know that Manhattan is only a half hour drive from Brooklyn but I'd be taking the subway and other public transportation and it doesn't make any sense for me to live there."

"Fine. But I still hold the right to spoil you and our kid."

"I couldn't talk you out of that even if I tried," Rory said with a smile.

"Damn straight." Logan leaned over the counter and lightly kissed her lips. "I've missed that."

"Me too."

"Now since you are my little list maker, what apartments are we looking at tomorrow?"

"I was looking at apartments in Park Slope."

"Park Slope? Really? I would have thought that the places there would be out of your price range."

"I may not have grown up in a mansion or had chauffer's drive me around, but my family is well off too. I have money and I think that spending some of it on a place for me and my child to live is perfectly reasonable." Rory said, getting more worked up with every second. Damn these hormones were going to be the death of her.

"No, I know that Ace. That neighbourhood is essentially the upper east side of Brooklyn, the high-end places there cost the same as the low-end places actually on the upper east side. So, what made you decide to look at more expensive places?"

"I came into some money after my grandpa died and I don't want to be afraid of it anymore."

"Really, what exactly did you come into?" Logan asked wearily. He wasn't sure what this meant and that made him nervous.

"Well, I knew that my Great-Grandmother left me a trust fund, there wasn't much in it and my mom had always told me that I should never spend what I didn't earn. But then my grandpa died. They didn't leave me a trust because they knew my mom would throw a fit, instead, they set aside a special account for me that worked almost like a trust, the difference was that they would sign it over when I asked for it or when Grandpa died. There was over five million dollars in the account."

Logan let out a low whistle. "Did you not know about it? I mean why wait all this time to have it in your name?"

"They told my mom but she never told me. She thought it would be the final push for me to end up back in the world that she ran away from, and that I was willingly walking back into. My grandpa used to mention accounts that he set aside for me but I never asked about it."

"Oh, Ace. Why not?" Logan said with concern.

"I don't know, I felt like I'd be betraying mom in some way."

"You wouldn't have."

"I don't know. When she found out exactly how much was in the account, plus what I inherited she flipped out."

"Your mom always did have an issue with money. How much did you inherit?" Rory could tell he was asking simply out of curiosity and trying to figure out exactly what happened when Lorelai found out.

"Grandpa left me everything. Don't get me wrong, grandma got a lot, enough for her to hire a new maid every other week until she's 140, and he left quite a bit to my mom but he labelled me the heiress. I got all his stocks, bonds, and the majority of the family money. It's not nearly what you have but the Gilmore's are old money so there was a lot stashed away, more then I knew they even had, and he left it all to me, and Richard Gilmore was not a dumb man, he ran two successful companies and he knew how to invest. So, between the accounts plus every thing Grandpa left me, I have about 250 million dollars."

"Holy Crap! Ace! That's amazing! Why did I not know about this earlier?"

"You're actually the first person outside the family who knows. I was overwhelmed, and between that and mom's reaction, I really didn't know what to do."

"How'd you mom react?" Logan knew this wasn't going to go well. Lorelai had always had an issue with money and she couldn't have reacted well to find out her daughter was now a member of the elite class that she ran away from.

"Mom pitched a fit when she found out, then she asked me in her special Lorelai way if I was going to spend the money. Which translates to that if I spent any of it she would never speak to me again. Normally grandma would have been involved with all of this but she was in a state because her husband had died so she wasn't any help. So, I just let it sit there. I signed all the paperwork and check on the accounts but I haven't touched anything. I had just lost the most important man in my life, I couldn't lose my mom over money."

"Ace, you could've told me. I would have helped. I know a thing or two about having millions of dollars thrown at you. But, honestly, I'm surprised that it wasn't in the papers."

"I don't know. I wasn't too concerned about it though."

Logan finished putting food on their plates and they moved over to the table to eat. A few minutes had passed as they ate. Logan had been watching Rory, to make sure she didn't have a bad reaction to anything he made. They chatted through dinner, discussing politics, movies and everything else in their comfortable banter. After dinner, Logan went to get the pie and brought it over. "What did you think of dinner?"

"It was delicious. Don't tell Luke that you finally got me to eat something healthy. He'll be so sad that he couldn't break me."

"I won't tell. The baby didn't object?" Logan was quickly becoming a doting dad. Anything Rory or the baby wanted he would get them, he would move heaven and earth if they asked him to.

"Trust me, you'd know if the baby objected." Logan cringed at the thought.

"That bad huh?"

"No, it's just gross. Sorry, I shouldn't have told you that."

"It's fine. I want to know everything, I want to hold your hair back as you throw up, I want to be there for the crazy cravings, the doctor's appointments, when their born and everything after and in between."

"Do you mean that?" Rory said with a watery smile.

"I do. Absolutely I do. You won't be doing any of this by yourself. I will not leave my family alone. Not now, and never again."

"Your family?" Rory grinned at Logan as she thought about what that statement could entail.

"Our family. You and the baby are my family. I hope one day to make that official but either way you're my family."

Rory smiled at Logan. While she was looking at him she realized that while he had been making these proclamations she had yet to say a word. So, she plucked up all her courage and said the thing that would hopefully change her life for the better. "I want that too. I love you so much, Logan. I have loved you since I was 19, and I never stopped. I want us to be a real family someday and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you how I really felt earlier. I should have fought for you, but I'm fighting for us now."

Then Rory leaned over and gave Logan a passionate kiss. Logan pulled on Rory's waist so that she'd sit in his lap, she took it a step further, straddling his lap, and rubbing suggestively against him. Logan pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers while he caught his breath and tried to regain whatever focus and restraint he had left. "Rory," He breathed out. "If you keep that up you won't be spending the night alone in the guest room."

"What if I said I didn't want to spend the night alone in the guest room?" Rory said in a tone that left no room to argue about what it was she wanted. With that Logan stood, Rory wrapped her legs around his waist when he stood not kissing him with all she had. He walked towards the bedroom without breaking the kiss and when he got in the room he kicked the door shut behind them, shutting out the outside world, and that was where they spent the rest of the night.

* * *

Logan woke up the next morning wrapped around Rory. At first, he wasn't sure who he was in bed with but when he opened his eyes and saw the brown hair that he knew so well he knew that he was in bed with Rory. After a moment, the memories of the previous day came flooding back to him. Her taking the job he offered her, him telling her that he's always loved her and her telling him about their baby. Their baby. That thought stopped him dead in his tracks. A baby, a baby with Rory. He was going to be a dad, and Rory was going to be a mom. As the thoughts swirled around his head he realized that he wasn't panicking to the extent that he thought he would, he was happy and even a little excited. He pulled away from Rory a little so he could really look at her. She looked peaceful and calm as she slept, something that was rare for her in the past year or so, not surprising considering what was going on in her life. As he looked at her he noticed small changes to her body that weren't there three months ago. The changes were so small that someone who didn't know her would probably miss them, but this was the woman that he has loved since he was 22, so he spotted the changes right away. As he took in the changes he focused in on her stomach, she had a small baby bump, making her stomach a little rounder and firmer than it used to be and he loved that it was their baby that was making her body change. He rubbed his hand along her belly lovingly, soaking in the feeling of having her back in his life again.

Rory woke up to the feeling of something rubbing her stomach. As her brain came into focus she realized it was someone's hand rubbing her belly. She opened her eyes to find Logan staring at her and smiling.

"Sorry Ace, did I wake you?" Logan asked when he saw her eyes flutter open. She smiled and shook her head in the negative. "No. Good morning, Logan."

"Good morning Ace." Logan pulled his hand away only to have Rory grab it and put it back on her stomach. "Don't stop, that felt really good." Logan diligently went back to rubbing her stomach, a little firmer then he was previously.

They laid in bed for another hour before they started to get ready for the day. "What's the plan for today, Ace?"

"I'm meeting with a realtor at eleven and I'm looking at some apartments. Then depending on how that goes, fast food and coffee scouting. And I need to call Josh and tell him I'm accepting the position."

"Great. Why don't you call Josh after you take a shower? By the way, what type of apartments are we looking at?"

"I found four apartments that I want to look at. Three have two bedrooms, I flagged one with three bedrooms that I liked, I thought I could turn the third room into an office and have a pull-out couch for guests. It is more expensive than the others. They are all near Prospect Park which I like, and there are schools in the area plus a diner that I like the sound of. But, don't you have a multimillion, multinational corporation to run?"

"It's Saturday. I try not to work on Saturdays, but if there is an emergency they can get a hold of me." At Rory's disbelieving look he elaborated. "I changed a few things when I took over, I won't be as hands-on as my dad, I have a whole host of vice-presidents who are very capable and can manage without me sometimes. I don't want to be a workaholic who only comes home when something bad happens. I don't want a trophy wife and kids who hate me, I want a life and a real family, in order to do that I had to make changes within the company. I eased up on the employees, treated them like people, not slaves and let them have a life. Now the employees are happier, the company is doing better and I changed things so I hopefully won't turn into my father."

"You won't turn into your father. You're not much like him at all, so there's no reason to believe that you'd become him over something this important."

"Sometimes I think you give me too much credit. But, if you think I am I give you permission to toss me out."

"I promise, I'll even beat you over the head with a frying pan."

Logan laughed not knowing what Rory was referring to. "What?"

"It's from a Disney movie called Tangled. The main character's weapon of choice was a cast iron frying pan."

Logan laughed not sure what to say. "I spend a lot of time watching Paris and Doyle's kids. That's all I can say."

"Those poor kids. Paris and Doyle as parents. I can't even imagine." Logan cringed at the thought.

"They aren't so bad." Logan raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner and stared at Rory until she broke. "Ok, it's a good thing they have a nanny or those children would be toast. They do love their kids, it's just Paris is, well she's Paris."

"Good to know she's still Paris." Logan kissed Rory lightly before he slid out of bed and headed to the attached bathroom. "I need a shower, and I know that you do too, we worked up quite the sweat during our workout." Logan smiled suggestively. "Care to join me in the shower?" Rory did not need to be asked twice.

* * *

After their joint shower, Rory and Logan were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast. As Logan made Rory some coffee she called Josh to tell him that she was taking the job. Considering it was Saturday it wasn't surprising when he didn't answer his phone. She left him a voicemail explaining that she'd be honoured to take the job and that she'd call him again on Monday. When she hung up the phone she realized that Logan had put a large cup of coffee in front of her, she picked it up and she took a swing, unfortunately, it was her extra strength coffee that he had made out of habit and it sent her running for the bathroom. Logan quickly figured out what happened and followed into the bathroom, and he found Rory bent over the toilet throwing up whatever was in her stomach. He sat down behind her, rubbed her back and pulled back her hair until she stopped. She eventually slumped back into his chest, exhausted. "Thank you." She said once she caught her breath.

"Anytime." Logan kissed the top of her head before he stood, pulling her up off the floor, and grabbed a glass and to fill so she could rinse her mouth. Once she rinsed her mouth he brushed some hair back behind her ear before speaking. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I had been throwing up right around this time for the past few weeks. I think it was the coffee that set me off though. Paris said that should be stopping soon, and I really hope she's right."

"I'm sorry about the coffee. I made it the way you normally want it." Logan said guiltily. Then another thought entered his head. "This has been happening for weeks?"

"Yeah, that's the thing with early pregnancy, lots of morning sickness. But I don't know why they call it that because my black as tar, strong enough to melt iron, beloved coffee still makes me vomit at night too."

"You're ok now though."

"Yeah, it goes as quickly as it comes. Can we have breakfast now? I'm hungry."

Logan huffed out a laugh. Only Rory would throw up then ask for more food. "There's no keeping food from a Gilmore Girl. How do you feel about pancakes?"

"I feel really good about pancakes! Do you know what sounds good? Pancakes topped with whipped cream, maple syrup, and a pickle on top." Logan stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Rory with his mouth hanging open. "What?" She said as she walked towards the kitchen.

"You just asked for pancakes with whipped cream, syrup and a pickle," Logan said laughing as he followed her in the kitchen.

"I did? Oh my god, I did! But it sounds delicious."

Logan laughed "At least we know the cravings are in full swing." As he started on the pancakes Rory got out the apple juice and poured herself a glass. They moved around the kitchen together as if they had been doing it their whole lives.

Logan placed the two plates of pancakes next to each other, his with syrup and butter, hers with syrup, whipped cream and a pickle. As he sat down to eat he looked at Rory and smiled. He knew that if they were really going to do this, give them a real shot that hopefully ended with her agreeing to be his wife that there were still a few things that they had to hash out. "Rory?" Rory looked up at his worried tone. He rarely used her first name and when he did it was serious. She stopped eating and turned so she could fully look at him. "What's the matter, Logan?"

"Nothing's the matter I just wanted to ask you something. And no matter the answer, I won't get mad, it won't change my mind about any of this but I'd still like to know."

"Logan you're scaring me a little, what is it?"

"Why did you say no when I first proposed?" Rory gasped lightly at the question. They had never talked about the infamous proposal and his ultimatum. She knew that they had to talk about it. It was the moment that blew up their relationship and led them to where they were now but talking about it made it all seem so real. She did know one thing, she did not want to give up on what could make so very happy by being scared and running away.

Rory took a breath and started talking. "There were a lot of reasons why I said no. I had been applying to papers and looking at different opportunities all over the country. I was offered a position at a small paper and I turned it down thinking that I would get a better offer, which I never got. I had applied for an internship at the Times but when they turned me down I felt my whole world shift. I felt as though I had no idea where my life was going or what I was going to do next. Then you asked me to marry you. I wanted too say yes. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. You know, when we spent Valentine's Day up at Martha's Vineyard with my mom and Luke, I told her that you could be my one. I thought you were it for me. A statement like that made me think of us getting married, having kids, and the whole nine. But, I thought it would be a little way off yet. I wanted to find out who I was outside of our relationship, outside of Stars Hollow, my mom, and my grandparents before I was your wife. I never actually said no to you, I just wanted to be me before I was Mrs. Huntzberger. I thought that being your wife would close doors to me, which I think were never really open to begin with."

"You thought about us getting married and having kids?"

"I did. I wondered if they'd have your hair and smirk, or if they'd have my eyes. I wondered what we'd name them, I thought about what type of wedding we'd have. Then the ultimatum blew all of that up."

"I never should have asked you to choose, Ace. I should have waited and I am so sorry about that."

"You're right. You should have waited. I spent a lot of time waiting for you. I waited for you to realize that you wanted to be with just me, I waited while you were in England and left me behind, and I waited while you were trying to find your footing after you left HPG. I thought the least I could expect was for you to wait for me too."

"I know. I panicked. The whole thing was actually a reaction to what I thought was about to happen. You were graduating and I got the job out West and I thought I'd lose you if I didn't do something and I knew it had to be big. I thought that if I made a grand proposal with the most expensive ring that you'd say yes. If I'd slowed down even a little I would have known that you wouldn't have wanted any of that and that you deserved so much more than that. Next time, I'll give you what you deserve."

"Next time I'll say yes.

* * *

An hour later they were wandering around Park Slop, getting a feel for the area, looking at different coffee shops and they had wandered through Prospect Park. They had Frank drop off before they were meeting with the realtor. As they wandered through the park Logan was thinking about how Rory said how she'd take public transit around the city, which is what most people do, but he was worried about her going back and forth to Connecticut in her 2002 Prius. He didn't like the idea at all. He knew that he should talk to Rory about it, the lack of communication brought down their relationship more than once and he wasn't going to do that again. "I know I said I wouldn't offer to pay or say that you should upgrade your standard of living but can I make a suggestion?"

Rory laughed at Logan's nervous ramble. She knew he was trying to be more open and not make assumptions or try to fix things without talking to her about it first, and she appreciated it. She was worried about what his suggestion was though. "Ok." She said with a little trepidation.

"Are you keeping your car? I'm sorry but that thing is getting up there in age and I don't like the idea of you driving it on the interstate. I'm not saying you need a hired driver, but something from this decade would be a solid step up." Rory looked at Logan in disbelieve then burst out laughing. "What? Why are you laughing at me?"

"Did you drink the pot of coffee you made for me because I only hear you ramble like this when you drink too much, coffee or alcohol, or when Mitchum comes to town. Now unless Mitchum is hanging out with Nearly Headless Nick, it wasn't him."

"Don't laugh at me, it's a real concern. That car is over 15 years old and the structure must be deteriorating and is it too much to ask that my child and their mother drive in a safe vehicle."

Rory smiled, she loved his concern for her and their child. It wasn't something she experienced often, and it was even less when she was growing up. She loved her dad but she was never sure if he cared, he never asked where they were living, or what type of car her mom drove, she honestly was never sure if he knew they lived in the potting shed. But, Logan cared, he was worried for their wellbeing and needed to make sure they were safe. "I was thinking about trading it in any way. I keep having to have Gypsy put parts back on it, at this point, it might be more cost effective to buy a new car. Plus, the Prius is too small, and I really wouldn't want to put our baby in that car it's not safe enough anymore. It was fine when it was just me but I won't do something reckless simply because I'm stubborn about money. I'll see what kind of car I want."

"Just see if there's something that catches your eye." They had been walking while they talked about cars when suddenly Rory stopped when Logan turned to ask if there was something wrong when she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a fierce kiss. They kissed for a few minutes until it became necessary to breathe. Logan leaned his forehead against Rory's as he caught his breath. "Not that I don't love that, and I really do. But, what was that for?"

"For caring about us. For worrying about our safety. I was never sure if my dad really cared about me or my wellbeing. I don't think he knew that we lived in the potting shed for all those years and I don't think he even asked. While I loved it, and I always will and I know my mom did the best she could for us it would have been nice to know someone was worried about me. I loved that shed, it was my home for so long, but it wasn't sanitary or particularly warm, and I don't know if my dad ever cared that I grew up without insulation or indoor plumbing. So, thank you, for worrying."

"I'll always worry about you Ace. I worried that I wasn't making you happy when we first got together, I worried when you took time off from Yale and weren't speaking to Lorelai, I worried when Richard died, and I worry now. I'll always worry." They stood in the middle of the park path just holding each other for what seemed like hours but was really only minutes. "Ready to go find your new home?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

The first apartment they looked at was a fourth-floor apartment with two bedrooms that was across the street from the park. She walked into the apartment and was at the back of a hallway, immediately to her left was the master bedroom, on the smaller side with no ensuite, further down the hall to the right was the bathroom, then the apartment opened up a little into the space the realtor called the home office but was dead space that was an offshoot into the kid's room, and she wouldn't use as an office anyway. While the living room and kitchen had big windows the light didn't flow back into the 'not office' for some reason. When she looked in the kid's room she decided it was too small and the location of the closet made the layout awkward.

"So, what you do you think Ace? How's your pro/con list looking for this place" Logan said as they stood in the living room. He took her legal pad and scanned the list. "It's not faring well for this place. But you are right, there is no real space for any type of work area, at least a nice one and without the washer/dryer it's not worth what they're asking. We won't buy on location alone."

"No, we won't."

The next place they looked at was on the second floor of a renovated townhouse. The apartment ran the length of the building with the living room and the spare bedroom that was off the living room overlooking the park. The bay window in the living room let light into the open concept area, with the white kitchen in the corner. Across the hall from the kitchen was a half bath, next to it was the wash/dryer, then another bathroom. At the end of the hall there were two doors, to the right was the kids room, long and narrow with a window at the end, it wasn't as big as Rory would have liked but she was apartment hunting in New York, she probably won't get around that, the master had a big bay window which overlooked a brick wall, she snorted wondering who thought of that, there was an ensuite bathroom which was a plus. There was no trim and the apartment seemed very white and sterile. There was nothing wrong with the apartment, it hit all of the points on her list but she wasn't sure.

"How's the list there, Ace?"

"Take a look."

"Why are there question marks in the con column?"

"I'm not sure, it has everything I want but it's missing something."

"Ok, well stop being practical for a second, what is your gut telling you."

"My gut is telling me that the relator's perfume is making me want to hurl." Logan snorted at that comment but tried to bring her back to the issue at hand. "Ok, well besides that."

"My mom's house feels homey, and I know that has a lot to do with the people not the place but this place doesn't feel homey."

"Ok, well there are more places we're scheduled to see today, why don't we put this in the maybe pile and go from there."

"Ok."

The next apartment was similar to the previous, it ran the length of the building making it long and narrow, it was on the second level of a renovated 19th-century mansion, which meant it had high ceilings and was one of the larger apartments in the building because of how the building was originally designed. When you walked into the apartment you were standing in the kitchen which was opened to the living room on the left which had light coming in from the large windows. There was a small alcove off the living room with a window and a bench seat, perfect for a breakfast nook. There was golden wood trim throughout the apartment, used for the baseboards, and doors. The kitchen had the same wood cabinets which gave the apartment a warm and homey feeling that Rory realized was missing in the previous apartments. Directly behind the kitchen, to the right if you were standing at the entrance, was a large walk-in closet, across from the closet was a laundry room/pantry, next to that was a bathroom, and at the end of the hall there were two doors, one directly in front of her and one to the left, the one in front opened up to what would be the kids room. It had a larger window then the ones in previous two apartments, the room wasn't as long as the last apartment but it was wider making it seem bigger and it wouldn't be as awkward to have a little more width to the nursery. The bedroom also had a small walk-in closet, she would've killed to have a closet like this growing up. The master was next door, there were two large windows, across from the window was the ensuite bathroom, next to that was a large walk in closet.

"So? What's your gut telling you now?"

"Hush, you. I'm thinking." Logan tried to sneak a peek at Rory's list as she scribbled away. "You'll see the list, hold on." Rory laughed as she tried to squirm away from Logan. "I see a pro was added that you hadn't been thinking of."

"I know, how'd I forget about storage space."

"Where would you put all your Christmas decorations if you don't have a real closet?"

"Plus the stroller, and who knows what else." Logan looked over the rest of the list and noticed the one, but a significant con. "There's no office."

"Not really. The current owners turned the corner by the window into a little office space which I'm not totally against but still."

"Ok, well here's the thing with condo's, you can renovate a little."

"I can?"

"If you wanted. You could pull out the bench in the alcove and turn that into office space and put a kitchen table by the window or closer to the kitchen."

"That's not a bad idea. This place is definitely a possibility. I like the price point better too."

"Money is not an object Ace. You don't have to worry about it if you don't want to."

"Logan, I'm finally embracing the idea that I have money, but I'm still me. I'll worry about how much I spend and I will not spend an exuberant amount of money on something I don't want or need. Ok?"

"Ok. I just thought I'd put it out there. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you."

"I appreciate that I do. But, I need to do this my way. After everything, I need some control again, and if you pay for a place then I'll feel like I've lost a part of myself that I'm trying to get back. Please, just let me do this my way."

Logan could tell Rory was getting worked up and pulled her into a hug to try and calm her down. "It's alright Ace. You can do it your way, ok? I won't interfere again."

"Ok?"

"Yes, ok. You can pay however you want. Do you want to go to the next place?"  
"Yeah, but I think it'll have to be pretty great to top this place."

The fourth and final apartment they looked at was on the second floor of a renovated brownstone. When you walked up the steps leading to the apartment you would enter the apartment and stand in the kitchen. Behind the front door was the washer and dryer, there was a dining room just passed the kitchen. An opening had been put in the wall that separated the kitchen and dining room to allow more light into the kitchen. There were pocket sliding doors that separated the dining room from the living room. The living room had a bay window overlooking the street and an entertainment unit with built-in bookshelves and fireplace along one wall. Across from the fireplace there was a small office with a murphy bed, a window and a small closet.

"That is the first closet I've seen in this whole place," Rory said to Logan and he knew that was going in the con column.

There was dark wood trim throughout, and wooden kitchen cabinets and that gave it the homey feeling that was missing in the first two places they looked at. There were three doors that led off the back of the kitchen. The one directly to the left led to a small bathroom, the door more in front led to the kid's room, it was narrower than the room in the previous apartment but was still a decent size and a slightly smaller window and a closet to the left of the door. The room directly behind the kitchen was the master bedroom, it had two windows, the same size as the one in the kid's room, built-in shelves on the wall corner from the window, and there were two closets next to the right of the door.

"So, what's the verdict Ace? I know that the first two are out but what do you think about this place."

"I like the fireplace, the office is great, and it can turn into a guest room easily, but the lack of storage concerns me."

"Ace, you could talk yourself to death about why this place or the other. But, it's coming down to two things, the office, and storage. Neither has both, so which is more important?"

"You aren't going to suggest I look at a bigger place?"

"I'm picking my battles here Ace, I figured that having you choose between a home office and a closet space would be easier than explaining why you should spend more and find a bigger place. I'll save that battle for another time." Rory gave Logan a questioning glare. "Focus Ace, closets or a real office."

Rory bit her lip as she thought. "Closets. The closets are more important. My mom can camp out on the couch, plus the lack of a bedroom might stop her from trying to move in. Plus, this is just for now, I don't need a large place if just me and the bean living there."

"Apartment three it is. You know, I'll be there so much that you'll think I moved in."

"I'm going to give you a key to my new place. That way you can come over whenever you want. I don't want you missing out on your child's life because we're working our crap out."

"You mean that Ace?"

"Yes, I do. Unlimited access, whenever you want. But, don't just pop in and out as you feel like it. I won't have my kid go through what I went through."

"I promise, Ace. I won't be in and out, I'll be here, they will never question just how much we love them."

"Good." Rory smiled then leaned in and kissed him. She was relieved to know that her kid will have the type of family she had secretly hoped for her entire childhood.

* * *

Two hours later they were back in Logan's apartment. Rory had offered a little higher than the asking price, which the owners gladly jumped at. Rory signed all the paperwork and she was the proud new owner of an apartment in Brooklyn.

"So, what's Lorelai going to say about you spending 1.5 million dollars on an apartment?"

"Who knows. But I'm pretty sure it will not be pretty. There will be at least one reference to Chuck Bass. And she'll probably say I'm selling out."

"Really? Chuck Bass?"

"It's her go-to reference when she's mad at you." Logan couldn't really fault Lorelai with that, in his less than stellar moments him and Chuck definitely did share some unfortunate qualities.

"Well, I might as well aim for the full deck. I'm going to suggest something that will probably make you mad."

Rory looked at Rory suddenly very worried about where this conversation was going. "What did you do?"

"Nothing yet. But Rory, if we're really going to do this, the whole life together. I'm going to need to tell my mom about the baby. She might be a little less hostile now that I'm the head of the family and hold the purse strings but I'm still not sure exactly what she'll say."

"Wow, that's sexist, acquisitive and shallow. And she calls me a gold digger!" Logan chuckled at Rory's mini freak out. "Don't ever start talking about being head of the family, allowances, purse strings or dynastic plans to our children or it'll end very badly for you."

"You have full permission to beat me over the head with a frying pan." Rory let out a snort at Logan's statement. She was glad that finally, after ten years, they were finally on the same page, or at the very least adjacent chapters. "I do have a plan for telling my mom if you'd like to know."

"Ok, how do we plan to tackle the dragon lady also known as Shira Huntzberger?"

Logan laughed, he had never heard anyone refer to his mother as a dragon lady but he hoped he would hear it more often. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I will not force you into the dragon's layer again."

"Since I am making you come with me to face Grandma, I am coming with you to face your mother."

"Ace, Emily Gilmore and Shira Huntzberger, are _very _different things."

"Doesn't matter, I'm coming. So, what's the plan?"

Logan sighed knowing that Rory was not going to let up on this one. He could only hope that his mother was just as greedy as he thought because she wouldn't dare make him mad now that he controlled her bank accounts. "Ok, I was thinking that next weekend we could loop through New England and tell everyone if you wanted. I come back to Hartford on Friday, then go to dinner with the dragon lady and Honour. Honour will be so excited We could spend Friday night and Saturday morning in Stars Hollow, spend Saturday afternoon telling the stooges and Steph then go up to Nantucket talk to your Grandma, I'm amazed she doesn't know by the way, tell her, then Sunday we loop through Boston and see your dad."

"You do understand that Nantucket is more than a five-hour drive from Stars Hollow. It's more than six if you go through Boston." Rory said, feeling exhausted just thinking about the amount of socializing she'd have to do that weekend. "I'm probably starting at The Post that Monday. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to do all that driving, deal with crazy socialite grandmothers and move all in one weekend."

"Ace, you've forgotten who you're talking too."

Rory looked at Logan like he had sprouted another head. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm the CEO of a major multimillion dollar company. I've got a private jet."

"Are you insane?"

"No. The airports in Nantucket and Hartford are practically designed for this. It's not that difficult."

"But what about Boston?"

"Fly there too. Depending on when you move everything, we can come straight back to New York after."

"You're insane. And I have no idea when I'm starting."

"Ok, well you were offered the job and you told me you're taking the job. You already have a place to live in. The rest is all semantics. Call Josh on Monday and he'll give you a start date. He'll do whatever you want, even if you want to start in two or three weeks, he loves you."

"You can't do that. There will be blank spaces in the paper."

"There have been blank spaces there for years, another week or two won't kill us. He was being let go this week, whether you took the job or not."

Rory thought about what Logan was suggesting, she knew that they were going to have to tell everyone eventually and doing it all in one weekend sounded like a good plan. Now that Logan was in charge of Shira's lifestyle she might not be so openly hostile towards her. She knew that the Stooges, Steph, and Honour would be thrilled, and maybe if her mom saw her and Logan together it might reassure her that things would work out. Rory also knew that Logan was right about her moving. She was offered the job and she took it, she was going to have to move in the next week or two regardless, a lot of her things were still in boxes from her attempt to relive On the Road. "Ok. Dinner with the ornery dragon lady, the Stooges, my mother, my grandmother, and my father, all in one weekend. You ready for that MAC?"

"In Omnia Paratus."

* * *

Three hours later Rory was sitting on the train heading back to Connecticut. Logan took her to Pennsylvania Station, after a long goodbye and a few 'I love you's' from both of them, she had got on the train. When the train pulled out the station, Rory got out her phone and dialled her mother.

"Welcome to Lorelai's house of ill repute, for Ashley press 1, for Amber press 2 for pregnancy fetishes press 3, or stay on the line."

"MOM! What if it was Grandma?"

"That would be one way to tell her huh? When are you planning to do that anyway?"

"Next weekend actually."

"Oh, intrigue. What made you decide that?"

"Guilted Logan into coming with me."

"I'll give him props for that. So, how was New York? How was the job? How's your baby daddy?"

"The job looks great actually. I'd be editor of an entire department. There's only one reporter left because the last editor alienated anyone with any backbone and a resume with any meat. But, I'd get to write and the journalist who'd be under me doesn't mind that she didn't get the promotion. Plus, the Editor in Chief didn't care that Logan put me up for the job."

"Was that before or after the baby news."

"Before. I didn't tell him until after I told him I'd take the job."

"YOU TOOK THE JOB! That's amazing! I'm so proud of you, kiddo!"

"Thanks, mom!"

"So, next apartments, right?"

"I already found a place I love. It has two bedrooms, walk-in closets, which I adore and is in a great location. It's on the second floor of this 19th-century mansion, which was renovated for condos, and because mine is on the second floor it makes it one of the bigger units in the building. There's a great diner just ten blocks away, there's a Barnes and Noble not far from there and there's a big park just down the street. It's amazing mom."

"How much did that cost?"

"Mom," Rory said with a warning tone.

"I'm just wondering if you dipped into your inheritance to pay for it."

"Yes, I did. I have all this money and it's just sitting there. Using some of it so that me and my child have a nice place to live seemed perfectly reasonable to me."

"You're right. So, how's your baby daddy." Lorelai changed the subject since she didn't want to have this fight with Rory over the phone. She wanted to have it in person, so she could explain that using this money would cost her more than it was worth.

"He's a millionaire who's worth so much that it makes my head spin."

"More than you?" Lorelai said in a tone that was laced with condescension

"Yes, mom. He's actually worth about 20 billion dollars." Rory said, starting to get tired of her mom's judgment

"20 BILLION DOLLARS!"

"Yep and the only reason it's not higher was that Mitchum didn't know how the world worked anymore. Then he tried to take on Mark Zuckerberg and lost. So, an entire generation of people laughed at him and made him lose a couple million."

"Holy shit!"

"Accurate." The motion of the train was making Rory realize just how exhausted she was. Since it was nearly a three-hour train ride she decided to take a nap. "Mom, I'm exhausted and I have at least 2 and a half hours before I get to Hartford so I'll talk to you later ok?"

"Ok, sweets. Have a good nap I'll see you later. And I expect all the details from your encounter with Logan."

"I don't think you'll want to know all the details mom."

"Dirty! See ya soon hun."

"Bye, mom"

With that Rory hung up and settled herself into her seat so she could sleep through her train ride.

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**AN: I hope you liked it! All of the apartments that I mentioned actually are for sale in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, If you want to take a look, PM me and I'll send you the information to look it up!**

**Now I didn't get a whole lot of reviews on the last chapter, so if you guys could send me some reviews that way I know people are reading this, that'd be great.**

**Review if you please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks for all the love for this story. I'm so glad people are loving it. Just a heads up, I changed Rory's networth from 75 million to 250 million. I got an idea and for it to work it would make more sense for her to be worth more. **

**Originally this was going to include, a conversation with Lorelai, telling everyone about the baby and Rory moving. Then Lorelai had opinions and I couldn't resist a Luke/Rory bonding moment. So, we'll get to that in the next few chapters.**

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Three and a half hours later Rory pulled into the driveway at the Crap Shack. Rory sat in her car for a minute debating how much she was going to tell Lorelai about her trip. The issue was that Rory was unsure exactly how Lorelai would react to some of the information she would hear. Her mom would be thrilled about the job and would be glad that she found a place to live. Rory was unsure how she would react to Logan, sure she would be ok with the fact that he wanted to be an involved parent and he wouldn't leave her to be a single parent like Lorelai was, but Rory didn't know how Lorelai would feel about them being back together. She knew for a fact that Lorelai would throw a fit about how much her new apartment cost. Even though Lorelai knew that she had dipped into her inheritance to pay for it, Rory had a feeling there might be a bigger explosion coming. Rory hoped to avoid it, but every time she got to close to the world that Lorelai ran away from, she always pitched a fit. She hoped that Lorelai wouldn't ask right away about how much the place cost and that they'd hold off on that conversation until Lorelai saw the place.

Rory finally got out of her car and walked up to the house. "MOM!" She shouted as she walked in.

"Fruit of my Loins!" Lorelai came flying out of the kitchen and gave Rory a crushing hug. "How was the big city? Any crazy people doing naked interpretive dancing?"

"No, I think all the naked interpretive dancers live in Stars Hollow mom."

"True. We do have a strangely high concentration of them in the Hollow."

"I can't believe that Kirk's two cousins moved here to help him form a dance trio," Rory said amazed. "How does that not go against Taylor's 'family friendly' atmosphere bylaws?"

"It's Kirk and Taylor." For Rory that was as good an explanation as any. They walked back to the kitchen and Lorelai started getting out snacks and put a cup of coffee in front of Rory. "So, besides the lack of naked dancers, how was the trip?"

"It was really good." Rory smiled thinking about just how good the trip was.

"Oh, that's your boy smile," Lorelai said trying to sound chipper but failing a little. "What happened?"

Rory did not want to get into a fight with Lorelai about Logan just yet so she ignored the boy comment for the time being. "It was good. The job looks amazing, I'd get to write as well as be an editor. The paper is in desperate need of some fresh blood so I'd be involved with boosting readership and having the paper make money again. They were specifically losing money on the guy I would be replacing. They were paying him a ridiculous amount of money and they wouldn't even break even for his department. He was a member of the old guard who didn't know what to do with the new world they were living and didn't like the new generation people coming in. Just imagine if Bernie Roundbottom, Esther or Charlie worked for a metropolitan paper with a real readership. That's what was happening at the Brooklyn Daily Post. Charlotte, the other person in the department, is nice enough and her work is solid considering she's relatively new to the profession, she is excited that there will be a new editor and it will be someone who knows how to work a computer. The editor, his name is Josh, was really nice, and when I questioned whether I was really qualified for the position, he told me that I was exceptionally qualified. He also told me that I had the best contact in the business because of Logan and that I should use it to my advantage. It's a real paper, with actual circulation, that reports actual news. I'm so excited! I'm finally starting to feel like myself again and that I have a purpose."

"That's great sweets!" Lorelai was honestly excited for Rory. She had been so lost the past few years and she had been living in denial for the majority of that. She was less than thrilled that the job came from Logan but decided that her daughter's career was more important than how Rory heard about the job. If she's learned anything it's that the journalism runs on nepotism and favours. If it once worked in her daughter's favour, she'd let it slide. "Did you tell Josh about the littlest Gilmore?"

"I didn't have to. He guessed."

"What?" Lorelai was genuinely confused at that. "What are you talking about?"

"I didn't tell the editor I was pregnant. When we were talking about my qualifications and other logistics he told me that they had a daycare on sight for the baby. He told me that he and his wife had four kids and that she had been pregnant six times, so he knew what pregnancy looked like."

Lorelai laughed when she heard that. She had never heard of that happening. "Seriously? I had already told your dad I was pregnant and when I started to show he said 'Lor, I think the pop tarts and pizza are starting to make you fat.' So, he's ok that his latest hire is pregnant? That's impressive. I think I lied, the greatest man in the world isn't Luke, it's your editor."

Rory laughed, thinking that her editor comes a close second to Logan. "He didn't mind at all. The daycare in the building makes the idea of working and being a parent much less terrifying. I tried to call him this morning to tell him that I'd take the job, but it went straight to voicemail so I'll call him Monday and we'll hash out a start date and salary."

"So," Lorelai said trying to sound relaxed but came off sounding nervous. "How did it go, telling Logan that he was going to be a parent?"

Rory knew that it was going to come up but she was still nervous to tell Lorelai what had happened. "Well, he was shocked at first, then there was a bit of yelling, then he was really excited. Once he got over the shock he took it all in stride. It went really well overall." Rory was trying to get a read off of Lorelai, and the best way Rory could describe Lorelai's expression was as a society face.

"That's great, hun." Lorelai took another sip of her coffee before continuing. "So, did he say how involved he's going to be?"

"He said he wants to be there for everything," Rory said grinning. "He wants to be a real dad to our child, nothing like Mitchum or Dad. He quickly turned into the doting dad. He was asking me what I was craving and when I had a bad reaction to some coffee he was with me in the bathroom, he rubbed my back and held my hair. He was so sweet."

"And how's he going to tell his fiancé?" Lorelai said, her disapproval and deprecation finally breaking through.

"He doesn't have a fiancé anymore," Rory said heatedly. "He ended it with her before his father died. It was all arranged as a business deal to help Mitchum save HPG from eventual financial ruin, Logan wasn't working for HPG at the time, but he came back to fold after his dad nearly died, saving the company. Logan figured just how little power his dad had over him and the business, took matters into his own hands, told his dad where he could shove it and ended the engagement. I think Odette was pleased since they were simply friends throughout the whole ordeal. No feelings were hurt when he ended it."

"Rory, are you sure about that?" Lorelai said concerned and frustrated that Rory would go back to Logan so quickly.

"Yes, I am sure. I had buried myself in a hole, so I blocked news notifications about and HPG, that's why I didn't know that Mitchum died. One Google search and it was all there. The broken engagement, how neither party was particularly upset by it and how Logan would have been cut out but Mitchum dropped dead before the paperwork went through." Rory stated, which irritated Lorelai. "I am a reporter mom, not always a good one, but a reporter none the less. I know how to do research."

"You've always been on his hook if he asked you to jump you would. Hell, you did!" Lorelai snapped at Rory.

"He never asked me or forced me to do that jump Mom. He gave me the opportunity, I did it to prove to myself and to others that I wasn't as sheltered and timid as I came across. Mom, I love him. I love him so much and he loves me. I trust that he wouldn't lie to me about something this important. I trust him as much as you trust Luke. We hashed out a lot of our issues while I was there and things are better. I told him about the money grandpa left me, about how just how badly my life had fallen apart in the last few years and I told him why I didn't marry him." Rory said fiercely

"You didn't marry him because he wasn't good enough for you. He was self-centred and a smchuck." Lorelai said sharply

"No mom. He's not. He's sweet, kind, generous and loving. He loves this baby, even though he only found out about its existence 24 hours ago. He hasn't always been the man he is now. He's not perfect but he's perfect for me." Rory said passionately. She hated how Lorelai thought about Logan, how she simply wouldn't accept him because of his family background. He wasn't perfect but neither was she, he had a past, as did she, but he had straightened himself out and was a good man. "Sometimes I think he's too good for me. He loves me in spite of my past, he makes me take risks and he helped me find my adventurous side."

"It was that adventurous side that led you to have an affair with him," Lorelai said irately.

"You're right mom. I shouldn't have done that but it wasn't Logan's fault. When we were in Hamburg he told me that he'd break off his engagement. He would tell his father to shove it, it didn't matter if he got tossed out of the family business or was disinherited because he would have me. I was the one who told him no. I told him that we should just be Vegas, I couldn't understand why he'd blow up his entire life for me, for someone who could barely hold down a job, who couldn't face the legacy her grandfather left her, and who couldn't get the one thing that was attainable to her. I was scared to admit that I still loved him. Then he went and blew it up anyway. He didn't want an arranged loveless marriage, he wanted something real. He told me everything. He told me how much he loved me and how badly he wanted to be with me. He said he wanted to marry me and for us to be a real family. And you know what, I want all of that too. I told him so. I told him I wanted us to be a real family and that I've loved him since I was 19 and that I've never stopped."

Lorelai was stunned as she listened to Rory's speech. She knew that Rory still felt something for Logan, how could she not with the situation they were in, but she didn't realize just how deep those feelings ran. Or how much of their 'Vegas agreement' was Rory's doing. "You guys are getting married?" Lorelai said, stunned.

"Not yet, too much has happened between us and to us for us to simply pick up where we left off. We're going to take things slow. Or as slow as two people who are in love and having a baby can go. We want it all, but this time we're going to do it right. There's too much on the line to screw it up." Rory looked at her mom, knowing that they hadn't had a real conversation like this in some time. Despite how it felt right then, it was good for them. "Look, mom, I know you don't like him, but he is the father of your grandchild. So, he is going to be around whether or not we're together. While he's not perfect and done some inane and idiotic things in the past, but so have I. I have done some really stupid things, remember Dean, or the grand theft boating incident? Imagine if someone said I wasn't worth something because of my mistakes. He's also redeemed himself from all of it, and he NEVER made the same mistake twice. Out of all my boyfriends, he was the only one who cared about Stars Hollow." Lorelai went to object but Rory cut her off before she could. "The reason we weren't here often was that we didn't live here. Jess lived here but never went or cared about town events, he outright belittled the events and practically bullied anyone who went. Jess hated all of it, the people he went to school with, the townspeople, and he barely tolerated Luke and me. I strongly believe Dean was just killing time until he graduated and went back to Chicago. Logan at least attempted to make an effort to understand the town. Logan knew how important you were to me and hardly ever got in the way of our relationship. Logan came to you for your help when we broke up that first time because he knew I'd listen to you, and he knew that I wouldn't want to choose between you two so he tried and fix things with you. Hell, he asked for your permission to propose! Dean simply tolerated our relationship, he thought it was strange and Jess actively tried to get in between us. Logan cared about all the little things that made me, me." Rory stopped to take a breath. Trying to calm down Rory went over to the fridge to look for some apple juice, finding none she turned back to the table and to Lorelai. "I'm going to run to Doose's and pick up some Apple Juice. When I come back I'm going to tell you the plans for the next week."

"Apple Juice? Why do you want that?"

"Apple's in liquid form. It's amazing."

Rory left, leaving Lorelai to her thoughts. The more Lorelai thought about it the more she realized that Rory was right. Out of all of her boyfriends, Logan was the one who tried the hardest. Lorelai didn't like that they loved each other so strongly at such a young age, it made her nervous. It also made her jealous. Her daughter had figured out 'Happily Ever After' almost twenty years before she did. While she was jealous, she was worried that Rory would get pregnant when she was still in school and Logan would leave as Chris did. Now Rory was pregnant but it looked like Logan wasn't leaving, and he was doing it out of his own free will. Lorelai knew that one of her main issues with Logan was that he came from her parent's world. A world of money, fake emotions, fake marriages, and nepotism. A world where people only cared about the impression they gave and how they looked. Logan had tried to redeem himself, by breaking away from his father's company not just once, but twice. When it would come right down to it, Logan would choose Rory over society, money, his family and the 'dynastic plan'. Whatever the hell that meant. Lorelai knew that Rory was right when she said that Logan wouldn't get try to get in between the two of them, but she knew that he had the power to take her away. If Rory was forced to choose, for whatever reason, she would choose Logan. It was already happening, he swooped in with a job opportunity and the relationship Rory's been pining after and Rory's planning on leaving. Lorelai knew that Rory would leave Stars Hollow but she'd hoped that it would always be Rory's home, but it wasn't going to be that way anymore because of Logan. Her grandchild wouldn't see Stars Hollow as home, it would be the place they come to visit, a place they would hopefully love, but they wouldn't consider it home. Lorelai filled up her coffee cup then started to make another pot. She was starting to get a headache. She put her head down on the table and groaned.

Rory was right about so much. She always was. She knew that if Rory wanted to move beyond freelancing she was going to have to leave Stars Hollow, Lorelai didn't like it but she knew it was right. She wanted her daughter to succeed and become the successful person she should be, so she was going to have to just deal with the fact that Rory was leaving. She wasn't going far, and she wasn't moving to Hartford and throwing herself into society to be a trophy wife, Rory was going to New York City for a job. A good job, a job that they always wanted her to get. Lorelai could get used to train rides, and spending time on the I-84. Rory was right about Logan too. Out of all of her boyfriends, Lorelai knew that Logan cared the most about Rory and what made her, her. All he ever wanted was to make her happy. Lorelai always knew that even if she didn't want to believe it. He fought for what he wanted, even if it went against society's rules. She had done the same thing, so she felt an odd sense of understanding with him when it came to going against his family's rules. She knew that you couldn't completely condemn someone based on the mistakes they made when they were a kid. People gave her a chance when she was a teen mom, and if someone tried to tell Rory that she couldn't have a job or go after what she wanted because of her mistakes she would kill them. She realized she was going to have to give Logan the benefit of the doubt, at the very least be civil around them or else she'd lose Rory as Emily lost her.

That thought brought her up cold. Was she turning into Emily? A lot of what she had said and what she thought did have a certain Emily-esq to them. That worried Lorelai more than anything else.

Rory came back in the house at that point carrying the shopping bags. "Hey, kid." The way Lorelai spoke worried Rory.

"What's wrong, mom?" Rory sat at the kitchen table across from Lorelai.

"Do you think I'm acting like Emily?"

Rory moved from the table and started unpacking the groceries. She grabbed a glass and filled it with apple juice then sat back down. "The silence isn't boding, well, is it?" Lorelai said trying to sound light but coming across sad.

"Maybe. A little bit. Your initial reaction when you found out I was pregnant did have an Emily like flare to it. And you don't like Logan, even though he's stepping up and wants to be involved with the baby, no matter what happens to us."

"Oh, kid. I'm sorry."

"We got passed the stuff about the baby. But, can you lighten up with Logan? It is a little reminiscent of how Grandma treats Luke. She hates him simply because of his background and his job. If you find a real reason to hate Logan, then I'll listen but his background isn't one. He will be around, sooner rather than later and I don't want him to dread coming here. We dread enough places."

"I would never want you to dread coming here." Lorelai hated the idea of Logan and Rory doing what she would do with Emily, make excuses, avoid her at all costs, and keep her grandchild away from her. "I'll do better with Logan. I do have my reservations but I'll back off. I don't want to lose you." Lorelai said, her voice full of regret

"You won't mom." The two Gilmore girls stood and wrapped each other in bone-crushing hugs.

Once the two girls pulled away from each other, Lorelai shooed Rory to the living room to pick out the movies while she arranged snacks for a movie night. Lorelai came in with all the patented movie night staples while Rory was on the floor sorting through movies. "So, what are we rocking tonight? Are we giving Tori Spelling another shot?"

"Nah, I was thinking something more classic and always watchable." Rory then held up Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club.

"Yes. You can never go wrong with the Molly Ringwald Trilogy." Rory went to put in Sixteen Candles before Lorelai stopped her. "Wait, kiddo you never told me the rest of the plans."

"What?" Rory looked up from the DVD player confused.

"You said that when you got back from Doose's you'd tell me the rest of your plans."

"Oh right." Rory moved over to the couch and sat next to Lorelai. "I told Logan that I would take the job but I haven't told Josh yet. I called him earlier this morning to tell him but I got his answering machine. Which isn't surprising considering it's Saturday. I left a message and I'll call him again Monday morning. Hopefully, then we'll work out my start date and my salary and benefits. I'm so glad to have benefits again. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had my teeth cleaned? I mean it's just gross and disturbing at this point."

"Hun, while I'm glad you have concern for your dental hygiene can we get back to the point?"

"I'll move down to the city depending on the start date he gives me. But I know that the current guy is losing his job this week no matter what I say, so they may ask for me to start as early as next week."

"Next week?! So, are you planning on moving this week?"

"It's a real possibility. It all depends on my conversation with Josh goes."

Lorelai sighed before asking the next question. "Do you think you can manage that?"

"I think so. I was hoping that you'd help me though." Rory gave her best doe eyes to her mother hoping to convince her to help.

"Oh kid, not the Bambi eyes! No one is powerful enough to resist those."

"Please, mommy."

"Oh ok. You got me. I'll help move my darling daughter, the fruit of my loins to another state. Despite that, it will crush my soul."

"Thank you. A lot of my things are still packed up so it's really a matter of relocating everything."

"Well, that's good. The worst part of moving is packing.

"What about the rule about how Gilmore's don't exercise? Moving would count as exercise."

"Yes, but packing makes you realize how much a hoarder you are." Lorelai cringed at that thought. "Earlier you said something about having Logan tell Grandma. You also said something about him coming here sooner rather than later, would you like to elaborate that statement for mommy?" Lorelai said trying to get Rory to tell her the whole story.

"This is where it gets interesting."

"Should I break into the popcorn?"

"Mom, you haven't forgotten the rules to Gilmore movie nights? You're aren't that old!"

"I am one young hot grandma to be, thank you very much. Yikes, now I do feel old." Rory was laughing so hard she was nearly doubled over.

"Ok, hot Grandma. Do you want to hear this story or not?"

"Yes please!" Lorelai sat to attention like a small child expecting a gift.

"So, after Logan and I worked out a lot of our crap, and decided that we really wanted to try all of this again, he brought me to the unfortunate realization that we would have to tell everyone."

"Everyone?"

"The dragon lady who's also known as Shira Huntzberger. Amongst others."

"Oh, kid. Is that a good idea?"

"We have to tell her mom. Now that Logan is in control of the family money she might be little less cruel knowing that he could take away her allowance."

"I don't even know to say to that," Lorelai said actually stunned.

"Me neither. I think the words, sexist, acquisitive and shallow were thrown in there."

"Oh, big words. Your Yale education is hard at work."

"Logan doesn't call me his 'Ace Reporter' for nothing," Rory said with a smile.

"Oh! I get it now! That's bugged me for years. But, what middle age woman is on an allowance controlled by her son?"

"High society ones?"

"Weird. What others do you speak?" Lorelai added with a dramatic flair at the end.

"The Stooges, also known as Colin, Finn, and Robert. I'm hoping that I'll see Steph, Juliet, and Rosemary when we see dumb, dumber and drunkest."

Lorelai chucked. "Finn being the drunkest?"

"Seriously I think the last time that overgrown bean pole was sober, he was 12 years old."

"Don't insult my exotic lover like that! He may be bathed in liquor but he gives me a type of lovin' that can't be found anywhere else!" Lorelai said suggestively. She had met the crazy Australian once and they have played this game full of innuendos and over the top flirtation that only Finn can really pull off, ever since.

"Oh MOM. Seriously, what about Luke? How does he feel about your exotic lover?"

"He loves Finn as much as I do. Finn has given Luke some tips to improve his game. Which really worked. And one can't compare to the other. Now both at the same time though-" Lorelai was cut off by Rory's dramatic and horrified yelp.

"ENOUGH! You are putting graphic images in my head that I've never needed! If you want I can go into VERY specific details about what happened the night my baby came into existence?" Rory said warningly.

"No thanks. Is there more to your plans?"

"Yes, if you stop interrupting me, I might tell you the whole damn thing."

"My lips are sealed." Lorelai moved her index finger and thumb over her lips in a zipping motion then nodded at Rory to continue.

"The plan Logan came up with was that we tell Shira and Honour Friday night at dinner.

"You and Friday night dinners."

"Mom."

"Sorry. Continue."

"Then we would spend the Friday night and Saturday morning here, see Lane, tell her what's been going on, and see all the townspeople. Then we would go up to Hartford in the afternoon and tell our friends, I'm hoping we get out that lunch with Logan relatively sober. Then we go up to Nantucket, we will plan to stay overnight with Grandma but if that goes to shit we'll spend the night at the house on Martha's Vineyard then on Sunday we'll head up to Boston and see dad."

"How in the world do you guys plan on doing that? He does know that Nantucket is a solid six-hour drive from here. You can't meet with long lost stooges in the afternoon and be in Nantucket by dinner. You can't do anything timely and organized when the stooges are involved. I remember the Quintin Tarantino themed party and so many other things from your Yale years, and if I'm remembering Mr. Toads Wild Ride correctly they're still like that. They won't let you just drop a bomb like that, and run. And no matter how much tour guiding she does, your Grandma is still Grandma, she won't stand for you arriving for dinner at ten at night. Not to mention the fact that your thinking about moving this week, and the fact that you're pregnant! So how do you plan to pull this off?"

Rory sighed not able to predict Lorelai's reaction. And when Rory can't do that, it means that it might not end well. "Mom, he's the CEO of a multimillion, multinational corporation. His net worth is well over a billion dollars, and he is one of the most powerful man in the newspaper business."

"I know all that sweets. I don't always like it, but I know it. How is that relevant?"

"He has a private plane. We aren't driving to Nantucket, we'll fly. It's barely an hour flight, so even if we leave the Stooges after 5:30 we'd still make it for a 7 o'clock dinner."

"Wow. Aren't we moving up in the world." Lorelai said snootily.

Rory sighed. She knew that she was going to have a fight with her mother about money, about how they use Logan's, about how she spends her, and the fact that her grandfather made her the heir and didn't tell anyone because he knew how it would pan out. Richard Gilmore was many things but he cared about his family and didn't want things to fall apart. He knew how close Rory and Lorelai were and he knew that if it was a known fact that he was leaving the Gilmore fortune to Rory, it would cause a rift. They haven't talked about it but now that she is back with Logan, money is going to become an issue. She was hoping she could put it off for a while simply because it's been an exhausting day and she couldn't handle two arguments with her mother in a four-hour time span. "It's easier than flying mom."

"So, after all this jetting around are you going to come back to the humble Hollow."

Rory was getting a migraine. She decided she was going to go back to the diner apartment after this so she could get some much-needed sleep, and Lorelai could cool off. But she decided to tell her mom the rest of the plan since she was reaching the end of the story. "It'll depend on the start date I get when I talk to Josh on Monday, if I succeed on moving and how long we're in Boston. I think if we can leave Boston before three or so, then we'll come back for a bit."

Lorelai couldn't fault Rory's logic on how the weekend was structured. It was very reasonable and if she had to fly out of Boston she wouldn't want to make a pit stop halfway between there and her home if she had to work in the morning. She simply didn't like the fact that Rory was quickly finding herself in the world of high society after all this time. She knew it wasn't Logan's fault but she was dating the billionaire with a private jet, that sentence just screamed high society. Never mind the fact that Rory was worth her own millions. Lorelai knew that Rory was still Rory, she wouldn't be the high society trophy wife, she needed her own career and life but she couldn't bring herself to be ok with the idea that Rory was becoming the person she had worked so hard for her to detest. "That sounds perfectly reasonable." She knew she sounded like Emily when she said that, but at the moment she didn't especially care.

Rory knew that there was no hope in resolving this without a fight and Rory was not in the mood to fight. She was too tired, to emotional and to queasy to deal with it. "You know mom, this day has taken a lot out of me so I think I'm going to head to the diner apartment and get to sleep. Then I'll start working on packing things up."

For some reason, this snapped Lorelai out of her sullen state. "Will you be packing everything?" This had been Rory's home base for her entire life, she would only take the essentials when she moved around, and she'd never pack everything. Mostly because there was a time limit on her move. She'd come home when semesters were over, she couldn't take everything when she followed Obama around the country or when she freelanced. Even the period when she rented an apartment in New York the majority of her things stayed here.

"Most of it. It would be silly to move some things." Lorelai hoped that meant that she would leave things that she still cherished but didn't see the point of relocating. Unfortunately, Lorelai's hopes were dashed. "The things I don't use anymore, I'll leave. But, everything else is coming with me. Except for my bed, I'll need a new one of those." Rory saw the disappointment on her mother's face and hoped to squelch her fears. "Mom, I'm 33 years old, I'm having a baby, I'm restarting my career, I need to move out. I'm not leaving because of something you did, but it's time to be on my own. When I moved back in the summer it was only temporary, for a minute there I thought it would become permanent but this isn't where I'm supposed to be long term mom. It's why I went to Chilton and Yale. It's why I followed Obama around the country. This is why we went through all that we did. It was why you left Hartford at 16, and it was why you went to Grandma and Grandpa for help. It was all so I could chase whatever dream I had. It was all so that I could have a career and a life bigger then Stars Hollow. I love it here, I'm most comfortable here, and it'll always be my home. I need to go, mom, you know that."

"You always were to smart for your own good, you know that. I feel like I just got you back kid." Lorelai said sadly

"You never lost me, and you'll never lose me." Lorelai wrapped her daughter in a bone-crushing hug for the second time that day and held her while she cried. Lorelai felt unnerved with all that was happening to her and her daughter. "Hormones acting up?"

"It's been a long day," Rory said weepily.

"I'll say. Why don't you go back to the apartment and we'll do our movie night tomorrow?"

"Ok, mom." Rory gathered her bags and her groceries and headed to the door. "I love you, mom," Rory said by the door.

"Love you too kid."

With that Rory left to gratefully go to bed, and Lorelai cleaned up the junk food and thought about just how much things were changing.

* * *

When Rory got to the diner, she found the place deserted except for Luke, who was behind the counter cleaning up and getting ready to close. Rory couldn't help but notice that the usually gruff man seemed almost chipper since he and Lorelai had gotten married. Rory was so happy that her mom had finally gotten her happy ending and that the man she had always considered her father was now her father.

"Hey, Luke." Rory came over and sat at the counter as Luke cleaned up.

"Rory, hi. How was New York?"

"It was good. I am going to need something tasty and something to wash it down with if I'm going to tell you the whole story."

"I am NOT serving you coffee. I don't care what you or your mother say. You guys do not have superhuman abilities, and all this crap will catch up with you eventually. I will not have your baby coming out with two heads if I can help it."

Rory chuckled. She liked that Luke was so caring and protective of her and her child. It made her feel wanted and loved. It was a special type of love that she thought was a myth for a long time. A father's love. Two different men, in one day, showed her that it was real, and that father's do love their children. No matter the circumstances. "I was thinking more along the lines of grilled chicken and apple juice if I may. But don't tell mom."

"I'm glad one of you has some sense. One grilled chicken breast coming up and one glass of apple juice." Luke moved into the kitchen, and Rory heard the distinct sounds of the fridge opening and closing along with a cupboard door. A moment later Luke appeared with a glass of juice and put in front of Rory. "Now why am I not telling your mom about your midnight snack?"

"She's having a hard enough time with all of this. The knowledge that I am having healthy cravings might put her over the top."

Luke groaned. He loved his wife, and he loved Rory like a daughter and he didn't like getting in the middle of their arguments, but he knew that Lorelai did have a tendency to be a little overbearing and she liked her opinion heard. She was more like her mother then she would like to admit. "What happened?" Luke moved the different ingredients and supplies out to the dining area so he could look at Rory while they talked. He didn't want her shouting through the diner and thinking he wasn't listening.

"Well, to tell you that I should probably tell you the story from the beginning. But, how much do you know about why I was in New York?"

"That you were up for an editing position in Brooklyn."

"Did mom ever tell you how I heard of the job?"

"No." Luke was suspicious now.

"Logan called last week and told me about it. He offered me the job right then. I told him I wouldn't accept the position unless I met with the editor in chief and the staff who would be under me."

"Logan put you up for the position? Doesn't his father hate you? Why on earth would he hire you? If this is another one of Mitchum's mind games, I'll whoop his ass."

Rory laughed at the idea of Luke Danes, diner owner, taking Mitchum Huntzberger, newspaper tycoon in a wrestling match. "Don't worry about beating Mitchum up Luke. Mitchum died a few weeks ago. Logan is now CEO of the Huntzberger Publishing Group.

"Holy shit."

"That seems to be the motto of the week, yes."

"Ok, well what happened with the job?"

"I went to the paper, The Brooklyn Daily Post, spoke to the editor in chief, spoke to the sole writer who would be working directly under me and I liked the job. The current editor is too old and too out of date to be involved in a newspaper. The paper and this one section, in particular, were falling apart. So, I'd be replacing him, I'd also be doing some writing because of the lack of staff in the department. The editor in chief didn't care that I know Logan and that he put me up for the job. He said I was qualified and that I had the best contact in the business and if I didn't take advantage of it I was an idiot. I paraphrased that last bit."

Luke moved into the kitchen to grill up the chicken. Rory took a sip of her juice as she heard him shout to her, "I have to agree with the editor there. You've got the best contact in the business. I remember you used to spend so much time building contacts and maintaining them specifically for job opportunities. Now you have the God of the newspaper world at your beck and call. Use it!"

Rory laughed at Luke's enthusiasm. He was always one of her biggest supporters in whatever she wanted to do. "I'm planning on it!"

"What?!" Luke nearly dropped the plate he was carrying as he made his way back out. He knew Rory understood the importance of nepotism in the world, he'd seen it when she was at Yale and handled her grandparent's parties. But, she'd always had trouble acting on it. He always thought that was Lorelai's doing. It was inadvertent, but none the less, Rory lived in fear of disappointing people. Especially her mom.

"I took the job."

"Rory, that's amazing! Congratulations! I know I said that I wouldn't feed you any more crap but I have some danishes in the oven and you can have them. Are you craving apples?"

"Yes I am, why?"

"Because they're apple danishes."

"Awe thanks, Luke." Rory was almost moved to tears as the plate of fresh apple danishes were put in front of her.

Rory started eating on the danishes happily as Luke started cleaning. "So, I take it you're moving to Brooklyn?"

"Yeah. I already bought an apartment. Depending on the conversation I have to have with Josh, the editor in chief, I might be moving this week."

"Wow. Let me know the day and I'll help you. You shouldn't be driving your old Prius on the interstate. It's nearly as old as your mom's zombie of a jeep. It's not safe."

"Logan said the same thing," Rory said wistfully. Or as wistfully as you can around a mouthful of apple Danish.

Luke struggled to ask the next question. He always considered Rory his daughter and a father shouldn't have to ask questions about the man who got his daughter pregnant.

"Out with it, Luke," Rory said once she noticed his awkward behaviour.

Luke tossed his dish towel down and looked at Rory. "Isn't Logan the one who caused-" Luke gestured randomly at Rory unable to speak his thoughts. "All this."

"You mean the one who got me pregnant?" Luke groaned at her bluntness. He knew she was doing it to make him uncomfortable. She really was her mother's daughter. "Yes, he's this little bean's dad." Rory rubbed her belly gently, smiling as she thought about everything that had happened over the past few days.

Luke watched as Rory was taken away by a memory and started to smile. He knew she'd be a great mom, it was in the Gilmore Girl genes. "Does he know?" Luke knew what it felt like to be left out of their child's life and he wouldn't wish that on anyone. And if he had any voice at all in the decision making, he was going to make sure that the child had a father. Especially when it came to his grandchild.

"Yes. I met with him after my meeting at the Post."

"How'd he take it? Because if he hurt you I will not have any regrets over taking him out back and waving my gun at him."

"Luke, when did you turn into Rodney Atkins?"

"Who?"

"Never mind. He took it really well actually. Well, once the initial shock wore off, he actually was really excited and said that he'd be there for everything. Be the type of dad that we never had." Rory saw Luke's expression shift from concern and excitement to one of sadness. "Oh, Luke. That's not what I meant, you are like my dad. You were more of a dad to me than my actual dad. I love you like a father, you are the one I'm scared to disappoint, you did all the things a father should do for their daughter and that's what you are to me." Rory had broken down into sobs after thinking that she hurt Luke's feelings.

Once Luke got over his initial shock of Rory bursting into tears he came around the counter and gave her a hug. He just held her and slowly rocked her until she calmed down. When Rory felt Luke pull her in for a hug she simply buried her face into his chest and let her sooth her. She had a long and exhausting day and she felt like she had failed everyone and she needed to be comforted for a minute. "I'm sorry." Rory hiccupped out. "I'm sorry I failed you."

Luke's heart broke hearing Rory so unsettled. "It's ok darling, you didn't fail me."

"You still love me, right?" Rory said, her voice muffled as she hadn't moved from Luke's chest. She had never asked him that before but despite his shock, he could never deny her anything. "Of course, I do, Rory. It's called unconditional love, I'll love you no matter what."

"Even though you aren't my real dad?" Luke had no idea what had gotten into Rory. She had never acted like this, except for maybe when she had the chicken pox when she was eight.

"Even though I'm not your real dad." Luke just held her and rubbed her back, until she calmed down.

Eventually, the sobbing stopped and Luke felt comfortable to let her go. "Feeling better?" She just nodded against his chest. When he felt her nod, he unwrapped his arms and led her over to a table. Once she was sitting down he sat down in the chair next to her. "Is there more to the Logan tale?" Luke wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling that there was more to Logan's involvement in the last 36 hours then his reaction to his impending fatherhood.

"Yeah." Rory hesitantly started. "He told me he loved me and that he wanted to marry me. He said it wasn't because of the baby but that he has loved me since Yale and never stopped."

"Wow."

"Yeah. I told him that I loved him too, and we're getting back together. We're on the same page and we want to spend the rest of our lives together. We are going to take it slow, so we aren't going to get married any time soon. Too much has happened for us to just dive back in."

"You're right, a lot has happened. More than what happens to most couples. Are you ok, with that?" Rory could tell that it wasn't a dislike of Logan that made Luke ask these question, but he wanted to make sure she was happy.

"We talked about everything. We talked about his dad, Odette, how he ended the engagement and told his dad to shove it. He would have been disowned but Mitchum died before it was made official. We talked about how he made changes over at HPG and now the company is flourishing. He refuses to be a workaholic so he promoted people and shuffled things so that there were Vice Presidents, so he won't have to be as hands-on as Mitchum was. He doesn't want to be his dad, he wants to be a good father to our child, he wants to be there, he doesn't want our child to question how much they're loved. and he told me how scared he was of becoming his dad and being a good father. We talked about how I turned down his proposal, how I always thought about marrying him and having a family but at 22 I wasn't ready. I told him that I'd been in love with him since I was 19 and never stopped, and ending things with him three months ago was the hardest thing I've ever done. I told him about what Grandpa left me and how I was scared of using it in case I made mom mad. We're not done yet, but we're getting there. We aren't going to hide things and assume as we did before, that's what broke us more than once. But neither of us want to screw it up, we've got too much to lose."

Luke watched as Rory gently rubbed her stomach again as she finished her speech about her and Logan. He knew then that Rory was in love with Logan and no matter what she would always love him. But as his fatherly duty, he felt it necessary to ask a few questions. "I have a few questions, if that's ok?"

"Sure, but it might be a little easier to threaten him if it's face to face."

"I'll do that the next time I see him. But I was thinking of something else."

"You'll see him Friday or Saturday if you don't see him earlier. I'm giving you ample time to call your hit squad. What are your questions?"

Luke smiled seeing that whatever emotional tsunami that had hit Rory was fading, if she's able to make fun of him, everything's fine. "Do you trust him?"

"With everything. I trust him with my life, my heart and our child." Rory said seriously.

"Does he make you happy?"

"Deliriously happy." Rory said with a grin.

"My last question is this. Do you love him? Does he love you and your baby?"

"I think that's three questions," Rory said with a smile. She loved how she was doing what Christopher had never done, doing everything he could to protect her from harm and make sure she was happy. "I love him with all my heart. He loves this baby so much. He's quickly becoming the doting dad. He's loved this baby from the moment he processed what I said to him."

"But does he love you?" Luke was a little worried that she seemed to skirt around that question. He couldn't tell if she was avoiding it or if she was giving into her maternal instinct and putting her child before herself.

"He loves me so much. He helped me with my morning sickness, he cooked me multiple delicious meals that satisfied my bizarre cravings and he went apartment hunting with me. He said it was because he wanted to make sure the place we would be living was good enough for me and the baby. He's shown me a type of love that I wasn't sure existed."

Luke smiled at Rory. It was clear that she was happy with how things were working out. Things were finally looking up in Rory world and knowing that her biggest dreams are coming true made her glow. "Well, that's all I needed to hear. I'm happy for you Rory."

"I'm glad someone is," Rory said, her voice full of sorrow.

Luke knew this was a reference to Lorelai but he could tell Rory was getting tired and probably didn't want to get into just yet. "I'll work on her Rory. She won't stay upset for long."

"We can hope." Rory yawned then looked at her watch to see the time. Realizing how late it was Rory got out of her seat. "Now, if it's ok with you, I'm going to bed. This has been a very long and emotionally draining day and I am wiped. Good night Luke. Thank you for everything." Rory gave Luke a hug before heading towards the stairs.

"Good night, Rory." With that Rory climbed the stairs to finally get to bed and Luke closed down the diner and went home to the other Gilmore girl in his life. The one who's also known as his wife.

* * *

**AN: There we have it. I actually didn't plan for Luke and Rory to have a father/daughter moment but I was writing and it came out. But, I love it and no one can resist it. **

**Now I have a question, would someone be willing to have me bounce ideas off them, so I stay in character and that the plot makes sense? I would really appreciate it if someone would. **

**Review if you please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thank you all for the love for this story! Thank you to all the people who favourite, follow and review my story, they make my day!**

**A HUGE SHOUTOUT TO MY IDEA PERSON/ BETA, BBJamkoGGRogan! She's been helping me sort through and flushes out my ideas, and she's helped me figure out what I'm going to do with this story beyond the original plot point. So a round of applause to her, please!**

**The last chapter was lacking in Rogan goodness so I have a sappy scene in here. This is a little bit filler but I hope you guys like it!**

**Anyway, on with the show!**

* * *

On Sunday, Rory spent the majority of her day sorting through her boxes and making lists of things that she would need to purchase for her new condo. When she previously lived in New York, she had been renting out a room in an apartment, so she didn't have enough furniture to furnish a whole place. Not to mention the stuff that she would need for the baby's room. When Rory went into the diner around 3, Luke told her that he had talked to Lorelai and that he hoped that she would now act happy for Rory.

Around 8, Lorelai met Rory in the diner for dinner before completing the movie night that had been abandoned.

Three hours later, Rory and Lorelai were gorging out of junk food and mocking the 80's classics. There was no animosity between the Gilmore girls and Lorelai didn't push Rory about Logan. Pretty in Pink had ended and Rory was switching DVD's when suddenly Lorelai spoke. "Does he make you happy?"

Rory was stunned by the statement, she knew that Luke had something to do with the question and she couldn't be more grateful to him. She turned around on her spot on the floor and smiled at her mom. "Happier than I ever thought possible."

Lorelai really looked at Rory then. She had been distracted by how riled up she was because they were back together to notice that her daughter was glowing. Not the pregnancy glow, that the Gilmore's were convinced was actually caused by feeling lousy for the first trimester, no it was a happy, excited and in love type of glow. Lorelai smiled at the idea that Rory was finally truly happy. That was all she really wanted for Rory. "That's all I needed to hear. Now, what are we waiting for? No Molly Ringwald marathon is complete without Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson!" She still held her reservations about Logan, but knowing that he made her this happy, she'd give the poor boy a shot.

"Poor Anthony Michael Hall, he never gets any recognition," Rory said as she slipped the Breakfast Club into the DVD player. She moved back over to the couch next to Lorelai. They knew things weren't completely sorted out yet but there was no more tension and things were looking up in Gilmore world.

* * *

It was Monday morning and Rory was getting ready for the day. Normally when she spent time in Stars Hollow she would exist solely in jeans and t-shirts, but today she was dressed more formally for her conversation with Josh. She knew that her future boss wouldn't be able to see her but it made her feel professional to talk to her boss in something she'd wear to the office, not something she'd wear to one of the town festivals.

She had finished getting ready and looked at the clock, it was pushing 9 o'clock and that was when she was going to call. She knew they were open at 8:30 but she didn't want to be told to call back because Josh wasn't in yet. She got herself a glass apple juice, her new favourite drink, and through some pop tarts in the toaster. Even though she was craving healthy foods she was still a Gilmore and a Gilmore eats pop tarts for breakfast. By the time she had her plate of pop tarts and her juice ready it was 9 o'clock. She sat at the kitchen table in the diner apartment and dialled Josh.

It rang a few times and Rory was starting to worry before a voice came through the phone. "Hello, hello," Josh said mildly flustered.

"Mr. Walker, it's Rory Gilmore."

"Rory Gilmore, please call me Josh." Rory smiled at the friendly tone coming through the phone. "So, does this call mean you have good news for me?" Josh said exceptionally more relaxed then he had been when he answered the phone.

"Depends on your definition of good news. I am calling to tell you that I'll take the job."

"That's amazing!" Josh practically whooped through the phone.

Rory laughed, she had never heard a fifty-year-old man whoop before. "I take it you're still offering me the job," Rory said, insecurity filling her voice. She had gotten so used to hearing no, that she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"We weren't considering anyone else for the position. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are exceptionally qualified for the position and the Post is thrilled that you're on board. You might just be our saving grace."

Rory chuckled, she was pleased that someone was excited to have her on their team. "I'm thrilled to be your saving grace."

"Brilliant. Shall we talk logistics?"

"Yes, please."

"Ok, so starting salary of $70,000 a year, plus benefits and vacation time."

"70,000? Isn't that a little high for a departmental editor?"

"If it makes you feel better, it's less than half of what we were paying your predecessor. We are paying you higher than what other incoming editors would make for a paper our size, but we're desperate, we need your help and Logan Huntzberger said to treat you well."

"He did, did he?"

"Rory, don't worry about it. I used to get phone calls from Mitchum and the rest of the old guard about how if I didn't do what they wanted they would ruin me. Logan politely asked me to pay you more than average and to treat you well. There were no threats, I think he even threw a please in there. I can't be certain because I was so stunned." Josh said with a chuckle "I would've hired you anyway and giving you an increase pay and to treat you well seemed like a minimal price to pay to give the owner what he wants. Plus, you are much cheaper than the last guy, so I'm already loving your salary."

"I don't like getting special treatment."

"Rory, do you know why the last guy kept his job for so long?"

"No," Rory said skeptically.

"He got his job because he is Mitchum's uncle. If he didn't get what he wanted he would threaten Mitchum with taking away the family money, though he had no control over it. He was married to Elias' sister and Elias didn't like him. But, at heart Mitchum was that trust fund baby who was terrified of having his credit cards taken away. Mitchum would then threaten me, and the previous owners with bankruptcy if we didn't do what he wanted. Which meant keeping his uncle on staff. His son has a stronger backbone and is remarkably nicer than Mitchum. We weren't bought out until recently which I never understood and probably never will."

"So, I am replacing Logan's great-uncle?"

"His background is in architecture, not at all useful in this profession. But, he got the job because of family ties. If I have to pay someone qualified and good at their job little higher than average to get them to work here, I'm going to do it."

"I still don't like nepotism."

"Embrace it, Rory. It runs this industry and many more. I told you once and I'll tell you again, you've got the best contact in the business, use it! So, will you accept the salary?"

"Well, I can't turn down a salary like that."

"Good. Now I can hear screaming and threats coming from your future office so I think our owner is firing his great-uncle. So, when do you want to start?"

"Well, I'm moving up from Connecticut. I have already found a place but I haven't moved in yet."

"When are the current residents moving out?"

"It's a vacant unit, I have no idea why it's empty. The place is amazing."

"Brilliant. How long do you need to move?"

"A lot of my stuff is already packed. So I can get it done in a week, or less."

"Aren't you eager."

"Well, I was freelancing for a long time, and moving around a lot. I got used to never really unpacking. That's one of the reasons I'm so thrilled to have this position." Rory knew she didn't tell the whole truth there but figured at this moment, it didn't matter. "I can be up there and moved in by Friday. I have a few personal details to deal with over the weekend, so I can start Monday if that works for you."

"Monday is perfect. We might get away with having minimal to no printing gaps if you start that soon. Now, if you still need enticing, our benefits plan is amazing. Medical coverage, including maternal coverage, dental, vision, the works. We also have pretty great maternity leave." Josh said, lacking in subtlety.

"I caught that you know."

"I figured you would. You said that you were telling the father after our meeting, how'd it go?"

"It went extremely well. Josh, there is something that I should inform you of so that there are no surprises later on."

"Alright." Josh and switched from charming and happy, to business like at Rory's statement.

"Logan Huntzberger is the father of my child."

"Well, that is interesting."

"Just interesting?"

"You met in college, correct?"

"Yes, we did. We dated for three years on and off. He asked me to marry him before I graduated and I turned him down. We ran into each other recently and started seeing each other again."

Josh was silent for a few minutes thinking about what Rory had told him. "Josh, are you still there?" Rory said apprehensively. She hadn't thought about it, but Josh might not want her on staff knowing that she was more than Logan's old friend from college.

"Yes, I'm still here," Josh said after a minute. "Thank you for letting me know. That would have been quite the shock."

"Do I still have a job?" Rory said uncertainly.

Josh sighed, not realizing that his silence could have very easily been interpreted as apprehension towards her. "Yes, you do. You are exceptionally qualified Rory and we are desperate for some help and some new blood."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Walker."

"Rory, I've told you before, call me Josh." Since Josh always has been and always will be a reporter, he asked his next question very directly. "How many people know? Is it public knowledge?"

"No, but I doubt it'll stay that way much longer. Knowing Logan, he's probably concocting some ridiculous spectacle to prove how much he loves me." Rory said with a chuckle.

Josh smiled. He'd only met the infamous Huntzberger once but the man loved spectacle, and now that Josh knew more of their past, he knew Logan loved Rory. And probably loved to make grand gestures for her. "Well, I hope you'll allow us to print those pictures first."

"I'll do my best sir."

"Brilliant. So, I will see you on Monday morning. See the secretary at the front then come to my office."

"I'll see you on Monday." Rory hung up the phone then shot out of her seat and did a little happy dance around the apartment.

Once she calmed down she went down to the diner to tell Luke her good news. When she entered every customer looked up and stared at her. "Rory!" Babette shouted across the diner. "Why you all dressed up sugar? You look like you're going to conduct an orchestra!" Rory glanced down at her outfit wondering how Babette got conductor from it.

"No Babette I just had a chat with my new boss and I wanted to feel professional when I spoke to him."

"You're new boss? You got a new job? What about the Stars Hollow Gazette?" Babette questioned in a rapid-fire way.

"I'm leaving the gazette for greener pastures. I got a job as an editor at a paper in New York City."

"New York!" Babette screeched.

Once Rory's ears stopped ringing she looked at Babette. "Yes, New York. I was offered a good job there and I am going to be moving some point this week. I start on Monday."

"Monday!"

"Babette stop screeching like that. You're going to break a window." Luke bellowed from behind the counter.

"You know sugar, I keep shattering this window in Morey and I's bedroom. I only seem to shatter those though. Never anywhere else."

Rory shivered at the mental imagery that caused. "Yes, Monday, and I'll be moving before that. I am glad to find a stable job, that I love, and requires little travel. Now I have spent my whole life working to being a journalist. I'm finally succeeding at that and I would appreciate it if you would be happy for me!" Rory shouted to address the other customers in the diner. She knew that the news would be around town before the hour was up and she hoped to get it all over with.

Sure enough, as she walked around town every person she saw stopped to either congratulate her on her new job or to beg her to stay. As she headed into Doose's Taylor stopped her to speak to her. "So, Ms. Gilmore, I hear you're leaving us."

"Yes, I am Taylor. I got a better offer."

"It is customary that you give your employer a minimum of two weeks before you intend to leave the position."

"Taylor, it was a volunteer position and I haven't been to the Gazette office in a few weeks now."

"I will be giving you a horrible reference Ms. Gilmore!" Taylor said flustered.

"I got the job without your reference, Taylor."

"You know, now that you're leaving I'll have no choice but to close the Gazette." Trying to regain some control over the situation.

"That's too bad Taylor. I appreciated the opportunity, I really did but I need a real challenge, someplace with goals and agendas."

"You used to love this town, I blame your Yale education."

"You do that Taylor. Goodbye."

"Whatever happened to the obedient Rory that you used to be?"

"She grew up." With that Rory left Doose's with a very gratifying slam of the door.

* * *

Rory sent some texts off as she made her way to her car, she was going to go to Harvard and take a look through some furniture stores. Normally she'd ask Lorelai to go with her but she wasn't sure how it would go. She decided to text Lane and see if she would want to come.

_Rory – Hey, I'm headed furniture shopping. Would you like to come with me?_

_Lane – Why are you going furniture shopping? Are you permanently moving into the diner apartment? _

_Rory – No. I got a job in NYC and I bought a condo there. I don't have enough furniture to furnish a whole apartment._

_Lane – WHAT!? YOU GOT THE JOB! THAT'S AMAZING. WHOOOOO_

_Rory – Thanks! I'm pretty pleased! _

_Lane – So, what's the apartment like?_

_Rory – It's a two bedroom with these massive windows everywhere, it's an open kitchen so I can see straight from the kitchen out the window. There are walk-in closets all through the place which I adore, I mean I would have killed for this type of closet space growing up. There's this little breakfast nook that Logan suggested I renovate a little and turn into a teeny tiny office. _

_Lane – Logan? Why was he apartment hunting with you? OMG! Did you tell him? How'd it go? _

_Rory – It went really well. After the shock wore off he got really excited, he's going to be such a doting and good dad. He loves his kid already. We also talked a lot, we worked out a lot of our issues and we're back together._

_Lane – Awe! That's amazing! I'm so happy for you. So, when are we furniture shopping?_

_Rory – Can I pick you up in 5?_

_Lane – YES! The boys learned how to start fires at boy scouts and if I leave now I won't have to be here while they burn down our house! _

_Rory – Haha. Ok, I'll be right there._

Rory got to her car once she finished her conversation with Lane. But, before she left to pick up Lane she sent a quick text to Lorelai.

_Rory – Going furniture shopping in Hartford with Lane. I'll be back in a few hours. __J_

_Lorelai – Ok, sweets. Have fun. How'd your conversation with Josh go?_

_Rory – Really well. He gave me a generous starting salary, great benefits, great maternity leave, whatever that means, and my start date. Which is Monday FYI, so I'll definitely be moving this week. I told him about Logan too._

_Lorelai – What do you mean?_

_Rory – I told him who the bean's dad is. _

_Lorelai – Why'd you do that?! _

_Rory – Because it was better if he found out before I was officially working there, instead of having it plastered across a tabloid or something worse._

_Lorelai – Why would it be on a tabloid? _

_Rory – He isn't the newspaper prince anymore. He's the newspaper, King. Tabloids would kill to find something juicy about him. We'll probably end up there anyway but hopefully, it's civilized not gossip crap._

_Lorelai – How'd Josh take the news? _

_Rory –He took it pretty well then asked for first publishing rights when we go public. So, all's well, the end's well. _

_Lorelai – That's great, kid. _

Rory was a little surprised her mom hadn't made some joke about her being in a tabloid, but before could think about that any more her passenger door flew open and Lane flopped into the seat. "Lane?" Rory said confused and amused, as she often was around her best friend. "I thought I was picking you up?"

"They found the matches but wanted to see if the drum sticks could mimic matches with the scratch part of the match pack. I could see your car from the house so, I told Zach that I was leaving and that our twins were now fire hazards and bolted before I could see the damage."

Rory just looked at Lane, not knowing what to say. She finally decided it was safer to change the subject then start talking about raising children.

"Ok, so I was thinking we'd hit Bob's discount, Puritan Furniture and Pottery Barn. How's that sound?"

"Pottery Barn! Really? Oh, I've never been there it'll be awesome! I wonder if they actually have the table that was in Ross's apartment?" Lane squealed at Rory

"I think they've upgraded their stock since then, but you never know," Rory said, amused by her friend's antics.

"It might've been their best seller. Who knows!" Lane was practically bouncing in her seat by this point. "But can we not go to Bob's Discount? I spend enough time there and it's depressing enough. How about we go by Ashley's Furniture?"

"You're right." Rory thought about it and knew that Lane was right. Bob's had a lot of tacky, random, eclectic furniture, but Rory wanted something better made that would last. "Ashley's has a wider variety at a better quality, and I want my furniture to last. I'll go later with Lorelai, she loves that place and she can find things to make my home look quirky."

"It definitely seems like a Lorelai type of place." Lane said agreeing

"Where do you think we got the monkey lamp?" Lane burst out laughing as Rory started the car and pulled away, heading to Hartford.

* * *

Rory and Lane had managed to get many of her bigger purchase items during their shopping trip on Monday. They ordered the bed, a sofa, two armchairs, one for the living room and one for her bedroom, a kitchen table and chairs, a TV stand and the very important bookshelves. One for the living room and one for her bedroom. She had been debating what she should do about her dresser, she ended up purchasing a chest of drawers because not having one would make her extremely nervous.

She decided to buy her end tables, coffee table and smaller items while out with Lorelai. The Lorelai touch that came with those items would make her apartment home.

She had originally planned to get her desk while out with Lorelai but she had found this small, antique looking desk with a grey varnish that made it look weathered. It had three drawers and a small drawer that would be used as a place for her laptop. She also thought that when she and Logan moved into their own place, she would likely get a larger office space than the renovated breakfast nook so she could get a larger desk. When that happened, the desk would go in storage until it could go in the kid's room. It wasn't too modern so it would be able to be in use without looking tacky. She grinned at the idea of her future home with Logan.

While Rory and Lane had been shopping she had wandered into the children's section of the store and looked at the different cribs and basinet's they had. She didn't buy anything, she wanted Logan's opinion on the nursery as well as Lorelai's. But she found a Rory crib that matched the desk that she really liked as well as others.

She hadn't put much thought into a nursery or baby names, or any of the things that a mom-to-be normally obsesses over. But now that her life had become more certain these thoughts started creeping into her mind and they made her smile as she thought about it.

The more she thought about it, the more excited she got. A home and a family with Logan. It was all she ever wanted since she was 21, possibly earlier if she went down that particular rabbit hole, and more then 10 years later she was finally getting what she's always wanted.

Sure, she never became an overseas correspondent and she wasn't able to rival Christiane Amanpour, but she realized long ago that wasn't her dream. She was a person who needs stability and routine to thrive and the life of a correspondent didn't offer that. She knew her dream had changed by her senior year of Yale, and she had even told Amanpour this when she was staying at the Dragonfly. She said that she had thought about being a correspondent but was thinking about working for a major daily, not jet setting forever. Rory had still wanted to be a journalist but she didn't want to spend her life running from one place to the next. It wasn't a life she could see herself happy in for long. When Lorelai found out that Rory's end goal had changed it was as if she refused to acknowledge it. Rory would get emails and phone calls from Lorelai asking why she wasn't writing harder hitting news, and if she didn't she'd never be the next Christiane Amanpour. If it wasn't that, Lorelai was telling her that she could be happy making a life in Stars Hollow. After one of these messages Rory would try and delve into larger world news, but she wasn't loving it. But, she didn't want to settle in the Hollow permanently either, she wanted more than what she could have there. It'd always be her hometown and she'd always love it, but it wasn't where she wanted to build her life. Rory had never wanted to disappoint Lorelai and did whatever she could to keep her happy. So, she kept marching along to becoming a foreign correspondent despite how much she wanted something different.

Strangely enough, the moment the little purple plus sign appeared was the moment that she decided to do what was best for her and her baby. Then when Logan called offering her a stable position, limited travel, with a little authority she felt it was a dream come true. She was going to do what she wanted outside of her mother's dream. She hoped that Lorelai would come around to the idea that her trajectory had changed and that she was happy with her life for the first time in years.

She smiled hoping that this happiness would never be far off again.

* * *

After furniture shopping, she and Lane went to the mall to pick up a few things. Lane got some new drum sticks, some guitar strings, and a leather jacket that looked 'to rock and roll' to pass up. Rory, on the other hand, picked up some business appropriate outfits, new suits, new blouses and a few pairs of shoes.

Rory had managed to escape the nursery section of the furniture store but while she and Lane were walking through the mall they passed an OshKosh B'gosh. She had hesitated outside the store for a minute before Lane pulled her inside. Rory followed Lane as she headed towards the boy's section. But before they got there, Rory spotted the baby section and wandered in. Lane smiled as she watched her friend pick through the onesies. Lane noted that Rory finally looked happy. She had been faking happiness for a long time, and when she first found out she was pregnant she was terrified. But ever since she got that phone call from Logan, and even more so since she got back from New York, she seemed as if she was glowing.

Rory had been looking at the different onesie's when she found a blue one with an open book wearing glasses, with 'book nerd' written on it. Then she found another with a little worm reading a big book with 'Bookworm in Training' written on it. She smiled wondering if her child would love books as much as she did. The more she looked at the tiny clothing and wondered if her child would be nerdy and shy like her, or outgoing and adventurous like Logan, she got more excited about the idea. Out of nowhere Lane appeared and started talking, "You know, you can buy those if you want."

"The baby will need clothes," Rory said distractedly

"Yes, it will."

"I'm having a baby," Rory said suddenly very alert.

Lane smiled at her friend. She had gone through a similar moment of revelation when she was about four months pregnant. "Yeah, you are."

"I'm going to be a mom, to a baby, who is this size." Rory held out the onesies to show what she meant.

"Yeah, you are."

"A baby," Rory said more to herself than to Lane. As if she is only fully comprehending what that meant.

"Is that a good thing?" When she had this moment, she went into full-blown panic mode but Rory looked shocked and happy. Not terrified.

"This is a really good thing." A bright grin spread across Rory's face as she let that sink in.

"So, are we getting the onesies?"

"Yeah, but are they the right size?"

"Rory, where is my Yale-educated best friend? Baby's grow. So, getting them a little large won't hurt."

"Right, I knew that," Rory said a little flustered. Lane laughed at Rory as she watched Rory spin a little bit.

"C'mon, check out is this way."

With that, they made their purchases and left.

* * *

She had just gotten back to the apartment and was going through her various purchases and order receipts. She pulled out her new clothes and shoes and put them away, then went to the bag from the kid's store. She carefully removed the tiny clothes and looked at them for a minute thinking about her baby was going to be wearing those clothes in less than six months. Before she could think about that much more her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and smiled when she realized it was Logan.

"Hey!" Rory happily said into the phone.

"Hey, Ace. How's your day going? How's our little bean?"

"Bean's good. I didn't throw up this morning which was nice. I talked to Josh this morning."

"Oh yeah?"

"Don't oh yeah, me Huntzberger. I know what you did." Rory was trying to sound harsh but Logan could tell she was just teasing. "You got them to pay me more than they would an incoming editor."

"Ace, we had to entice you somehow. We couldn't risk you picking a better offer and leaving us in the lurch."

"Logan, you know I had no other offers."

"Who knows? Things could change now that there's a new king." Rory could hear him smirking and despite how much it annoyed her she did love his smirk. "You know you're saving this paper so much money with your 'better than average' salary. The other guy was making over 200,000 and wasn't doing any work. They were losing money on him. My dad has done way worse things to get what he wanted, I just asked nicely for a favour."

"Yeah, Josh was still surprised that a Huntzberger could have manners."

"One of my nannies was from Georgia, and she loved manners."

"Really?" Rory laughed, picturing a southern belle nanny out of Gone with the Wind telling Logan and Honour to say, sir and ma'am.

"I sure didn't learn it from my parents. They believed manipulation and terror was the best way to get what they wanted."

"Speaking of your family, I heard an interesting thing about my predecessor," Rory said hesitantly.

"Yep. My Great Uncle Sal. Mean old bastard who doesn't accept that he has no control. When I fired him, he threatened to cut off my trust fund." Logan said with a groan

"You're 35 and the CEO of HPG. Did he really think that would work?" Rory said with a laugh.

"I told him that. He said that he'd call Mitchum and have him cut me off."

"Was he going to perform a séance or should we crack out the Ouija board?" Rory teased wondering how the man didn't know Mitchum was dead.

"The crazy old cooke forgot Mitchum was dead. Once we sorted that out I said that I was in charge of all accounts and that he has never been in charge of any Huntzberger money."

"How'd he take that?" Rory said curiously

"Not well at all, but since I'm the head of the family I got to throw out some punches that had been a long time coming," Logan said pleased with what had happened.

"Oh, what did you do?" Rory said exhausted, not wanting to have to deal with some assault charges or worse.

"Nothing like that! I told him that Grandfather had hated his guts, thought he was a gold-digging jack ass and that he had tied up the money so that he couldn't get any of it. Grandfather sure as hell never put Sal on the accounts."

"Wow. What happened then?

"He called me a lying brat."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, I've been called much worse. Some of them by you." Logan said, he loved goading her.

"Hey, butt-faced miscreant is a classic and horrible insult, and it worked wonders on you." Rory bantered back. "Then what happened?"

"I told him that if he didn't vacate the premises within 20 minutes I'd call the police for trespassing and cut him off."

"I'm sorry?" Rory was just confused now. If he married a Huntzberger 70 or so years ago, he would have had money, plus he was making 200,000 a year while doing minimal work. Why would he need an allowance?

"He lived an extravagant lifestyle. Much worse than me, Colin, Finn and Robert combined."

"That is saying something," Rory said amazed and horrified.

"I know. Multiple private jets, estates all over the world, multiple on each continent, ridiculous cars, he'd have luxury car companies make him special cars and crash them. I think he once pissed away a billion dollars in one weekend just blowing up his different cars to see which would make the largest boom. But, his favourite was the women. You can't have the type of entourage he's used to without a ridiculous amount of money."

"Oh my god," Rory said disgustedly. "Wait, if he's completely technologically illiterate, how's he living that type of lifestyle?"

"He could work it if it was made before the 1980s. Plus, companies will do anything if you throw enough money at them. They'd send out catalogues and have someone take his order over the phone. They also wouldn't include any of the features. If he couldn't bribe them into working fourty years in the past he'd have one of his bedmates do it for him." Logan said exhausted and disgusted by the man he was related too.

"Ok, but that doesn't explain the allowance. If he married into your family in the 40's he would've had money. He likely would have been an heir in his own right. So why is he getting an allowance from you?"

"He pissed away the family fortune, ran his father's business into the ground all the while screwing every girl who batted their lashes at him, or more specifically his millions," Logan said sadly. He knew that he got close to becoming that man and hated that he once thought he wanted that.

"Whoa. You guys were bad and a little careless, but you never pissed away billions on entertainment, and when you guys took control of your family's businesses you've run them well." Rory said trying to calm Logan down. She knew he was thinking about who he was when they first met. Robert actually strived to be that person until he took over his family's business and discovered he actually loved it. "Why do you pay for his lifestyle, even now. The man must be pushing 90?"

"We couldn't have a Huntzberger living in squalor so we paid for everything. Grandfather realized that Great- Aunt Alice had been hiding some of the money. It is actually a great story. Her husband was a bastard, we always wondered if he was abusive but we never proved it, when his behaviour got worse she started hoarding money away. Sal was never very bright so she kept some of her Huntzberger accounts and hid money in there. She collected enough so that she could start a life elsewhere, then she left him. Though they stayed legally married. She got a job as a teacher and taught third grade in South Carolina. Elias would give her small amounts that way he knew she was looked after."

"That's amazing, but how did she get away with it? She was supposed to be the perfect society DAR wife?"

"As far as I know my great grandfather was worse than my dad and my grandfather. He only cared about business and he only came out to make sure his son could take over the business. Alice was a girl, once she was married she was no longer his responsibility. Sal was glad she was gone, so he was free to do his whoring around whenever he pleased. Elias knew but he kept quiet about it" Logan said sadly

"That's horrible. Who could do that to their own child?" Rory said repulsed that someone could care so little that they didn't notice their child had left their abusive, asshole of a husband and moved to a different state.

"I don't know," Logan said distractedly.

"Wouldn't the public have caught on? I know this was before tabloids but would no one notice she had left an entire part of the country? Or that she looked different when she returned?"

"Alice would come back for certain events. As long as she was in the right place, at the right time, and next to Sal no one was the wiser. Elias paid to keep her presentable to society and since the parenting in my family is so stellar, no one else really noticed she was gone." Logan said dismally. "How can I be a good dad when no one in my family has ever been any type of father other than a sperm donor? I don't want our kid to think I only needed them for an heir, or that I don't love them. The only thing I learned from my dad is how to dish out guilt, pay people off and how to give a lecture. That's not parenting! I love them so much already and I never want them to doubt that for a second." Logan rambled on the verge of panicking as his voice got louder. "They are so much more than just an heir. Hell, the heir part is just a by-product of everything else. Rory, they brought you back to me, they helped us sort out our issues so we can really be together, be a family, they are living breathing proof of how much we love each other. They're everything that I don't know yet, but it's so much more than being next in line to this cursed throne." Logan stopped rambling out of breath and tried to calm down.

After a moment of silence, Rory spoke, "That was quite the ramble. It was almost Gilmore worthy." Rory said trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm glad I could compare," Logan said flatly, not at all pleased with his uncertainness.

"Logan, do you know how I know you'll be a great dad?"

"Were you not listening? I can't be a good dad I-"

"Logan" Rory gently cut him off before he could jump into another ramble. "The reason I know you'll be a good dad is that you're worried about it. You want to step up and be a good dad, someone our child can trust and love. You already love this baby so much and it's that that makes you not want to put the pressure on them you had about being the heir to a dynasty. You don't want dynastic plans, you want us to be a happy family. You aren't the same type of man that your father, grandfather and great – grandfather were, so you won't make their mistakes. You want our child to feel love and not have to beg for your attention. You've got the love and caring mastered, I know because of how you love me, as long as we can do that I think we can sort the rest out."

Rory waited for Logan to say something and when he didn't she started to worry he'd hung up. "Logan?"

"I'm here Ace. I'd kiss you if I could." Logan wistfully. "You've got this faith in me that no one else ever has, you believe in me and I'm not sure you understand just how much I love you for that fact alone." Logan was silent again and she knew he was distracted thinking about everything that was said between them.

"I'm worried too, you know," Rory said out of nowhere.

That seemed to snap Logan out of his trance, "What? Why?"

"I've never been really good with kids. I was scared of Sookie's kids at first and I was a mess when Gigi was little. I think I'm ok around Steve and Kwan but Lane told me about how they're running around with matches because they'd learned how to start fires at Boy Scouts and I'm afraid our kid will burn our home down and I'll fail as a mom."

Logan grinned knowing that while Rory had calmed him down just minutes earlier, it was kind of reassuring to know that she was freaking out too. And he was happy to calm her down. "Rory, calm down. You'll be a great mom. You're kind and loving, and I've seen you around kids, you're great with them. The issue with Sookie's kids was that you hadn't been around babies before and you didn't know what to do. The reason why you were freaked out with Gigi had more to do with a situation surrounding her existence and your dad then Gigi being a baby. I saw you together and you were great with her and she loved you. You figured out Steve and Kwan pretty quickly after you got the vomit out of your hair. As for burning down the house, we won't put our kids in scouts and we'll hide the matches." Logan said trying to calm her down. But equally amused and concerned about the matches issue.

"How are you so calm all of a sudden?" Rory said baffled by his suddenly relaxed tone.

"You made some good points while calming me down, and I figured it was your turn to freak out and for me to calm you down. You don't have to do any of this alone, we share our panic attacks." Logan added with a laugh.

"Well, thank you," Rory said softly.

"So, how was the rest of your day?" Logan said changing the subject. Rory happily filled him in on furniture shopping with Lane, the things she got for her new condo and how she picked up new clothes for when she started at the Post.

"I also went into a baby store today," Rory added haltingly

"You did?" Logan sounded shocked, though he didn't know why.

"Yeah, I briefly looked at some of the stuff in the kid's section in pottery barn but I didn't buy anything," Rory said quickly.

"You know it would be ok if you did," Logan said knowing that she was worrying for no good reason.

"I did see some things that I liked but I want you to have an opinion, plus I didn't want to deal with nursery furniture and moving at the same time." Rory rambelled nervously.

"Thank you for that. I've always been told that I was supposed to leave that alone, but I've always wanted to play a bigger role in my kid's lives than was expected."

"This isn't 1910 or even 1980. Men can be parents too." Rory said with a smile.

"Why do I have a feeling that this'll come up a lot in our relationship?"

"Because high society thinks it's still Victorian times," Rory said. They both laughed at just how accurate that was.

"Now you wouldn't have said that to tell me you didn't buy anything for the baby," Logan said lightly teasing. Logan could tell Rory was hesitating so he prodded her a little. "C'mon, Ace. Put me out of my misery." He begged, making her laugh

"Ok, ok. While Lane and I were in the mall we wandered into OshKosk B'Gosh."

"What's that? Are you trying to make me feel stupid Ace?" Logan said honestly confused.

"OshKosh B'Gosh is a kid's clothing store. Anyway, I wandered into the baby section and I picked out some onesies. One had a book wearing glasses with 'book nerd' written on it, the other had a worm reading with 'bookworm' on it. I looked at these little pieces of clothing and I thought about our baby wearing them and I was filled with this sense of joy." Rory said grinning.

"Feeling sappy, are we?" Logan said teasing. But he understood what she meant. He had wandered by a high-end baby boutique in Manhattan, and he started picturing their baby. The whole picture that had played out in his head filled him with an excitement he hadn't felt before.

"I'm hormonal, I'm allowed," Rory said making Logan laugh.

"You can have whatever you want Ace. Absolutely anything at all." There was something in the way Logan spoke that made Rory believe everything Logan said.

"I love you, Logan." Rory had an inexplicable urge to tell him that, and she had spent so much time over the years not telling him that, that she was going to tell him as often as she wanted.

"I love you too, Rory." Logan replied, feeling the exact same as his girlfriend? Partner? Baby mama? He made a face at that last one. He honestly wanted her to be his wife but he knew not to go there until he knew she'd say yes.

"You called me Rory," Rory said shocked.

"I just wanted you to know I was serious," Logan said earnestly. They were silent for a minute before Rory spoke, "Look who's being sappy now." She teased making Logan laugh. "I'm sorry but I promised mom I'd meet her to talk about the shopping trip and figure out what we'd still need to get later on. So, I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"OK, Ace. Have fun with your mom."

"I think you mean good luck," Rory said with a grimace.

"Well, then, good luck and I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too." With that Rory hung up the phone and braced herself to face Lorelai Gilmore.

* * *

Rory spent the rest of Monday talking with Lorelai to sort out what Rory still needed to purchase for her new place. Lorelai was clearly unimpressed that Rory went with higher quality for her larger items. Rory knew that Lorelai would be unimpressed but she wasn't spending frivolously. She went to Pottery Barn, she didn't have stuff specialty made then shipped over from France. Lorelai relaxed a little when Rory told her that she still needed a whole lot and she'd get those when she went shopping with Lorelai at Bed, Bath and Beyond and Bob's Discount store. Her and Lorelai were going to go shopping on Tuesday and then Rory was going to move Thursday. She had cleared this with Luke and he was going to leave Cesare in charge for the day while he helped.

On Tuesday Lorelai and Rory had spent the entire day getting things for Rory's new apartment. Lorelai and Rory generally shared similar taste in styles, so it went over relatively well. But, every once and a while Rory would distract Lorelai so that Rory could replace something Lorelai picked out with something that would like up with Rory's taste more. She didn't want to fight with her mom about this because there were larger things coming. If all else fails Rory was keeping the receipts for anything she couldn't get rid of.

That night most of Stars Hollow had gathered in the dance studio for the weekly town meeting. Lorelai and Rory were thinking of the most ridiculous things that could be on tonight's agenda, from Kirk and the Kirkights naked interpretive dancing to Taylor finally asking everyone to refer to him as 'Your Highness'. They already had a whole host of jokes lined up for whichever scenario played out. They were dividing up snacks when Kirk came in the door near the stage in a bailiffs' outfit. He banged on Taylor's stand then loudly stated "All Rise! Taylor Doose is presiding"

"Oh, he's now King Taylor," Lorelai whispered to Rory as Babette shouted "KIRK! What are you doing? This isn't Law and Order!"

Patty shouted from her position on the stage, "You can tell Taylor to get his behind that is identical to that of my sixth husband, in this building or I am taking away his milkshake machine and I'll run all town meetings from now on." Her statement shocked the crowd and a loud gasp went through the studio.

"Can you even do that Patty?" Gypsy cried out

"You can bet Broadway on it," Patty said with a satisfied grin. "Now, Kirk are you going to get him or-"

"Patty, I was trying to instill a little of our honoured legal system into the meetings! What is so wrong with that?" Taylor shouted, bursting into the dance studio.

"Because Taylor, you are dressed like a judge even though you aren't one and you look like some sort of nun."

"I am no nun," Taylor said horrified. "This is the traditional dress robes of all presiding judges, and I'd thought I'd gain a little respect my wearing them," Taylor said with a huff.

Right at that moment, Lorelai chucked a stick of lickerish at Taylor. "Lorelai!" Taylor shrieked.

"What? You want more respect so I gave you some of my snacks. Now everyone knows that is the highest form of respect you'll get from me." Rory chuckled at the scene in front of her. Taylor was flaming red, and she wasn't sure if it was this red even when Jess had vandalized Doose's.

Lorelai then turned and looked at Rory. "Right Rory?"

"It's true Taylor, she barely shares her snacks with me and I'm her child. I used to beg for them when I was five." Rory added dramatically.

"I did no such thing." Lorelai feigned hurt and put the back of her hand against her forehead dramatically.

"Mom you once snatched a pop tart right out of my mouth, and the same day you took a cup of coffee right out of my hands while I was drinking it."

"Well, there was that."

"Lorelai, your parenting flaws aside, I demand you pay to have my robes dry cleaned!" Taylor hollered from the front.

"Oh, Taylor, take off your stupid robes and start this town meeting before I take away your ice cream maker and your silly coat."

"That coat isn't silly but fine. I'd like some part of this night to be the meeting." Taylor stripped of his robes and got up and called the meeting to order.

They discussed the random town events, there was another car accident, if you could call it that, and the town determined who was at fault. One of Kirks cousins hasn't mowed his lawns since he's moved to town and Taylor wanted to determine the type of punishment that should be required. Kirk's cousin then called Taylor a dictator and that he wouldn't be strung up in the square for lawn height. Taylor briefly considered it before the entire town threatened Taylor with impeachment and they let Kirk's cousin keep his lawn the way it was.

Rory and Lorelai had thoroughly enjoyed the town meeting when Taylor announced the final order of business. "Oh right, the last item on the agenda, Rory Gilmore."

"Me?" Rory looked up shocked then looked at Lorelai, she just shrugged not knowing anymore then Rory.

"Yes, you. We want to discuss the matter of the move."

"What about it Taylor?" Rory said irritated

"You have lived here your entire life. We've clothed you, fed you, and raised you. And now you're leaving for a big job opportunity in the city."

"Yes, Taylor, it's a good job and I have been struggling to find a job recently and now I'm leaving to pursue it. That's the whole point of growing up, you grow up then you leave to start your own life!"

"Yes, but young lady, how do you expect to raise a child alone in the city. They could end up like Jess!" Rory had to laugh, thinking that was the worst example he could come up with. The minute the Jess comment came out of Taylor's mouth Patty knew he was done for.

"I'd be proud to have my child end up like Jess. He wasn't a terror, he was a stranger, who felt the world was out to get him and he dressed like someone who grew up in the slums. Here's the thing, he acted like the world was out to get him because from his perspective it was! His mother was a drug addict and an alcoholic, who dated abusive men that liked to take their frustrations out on Jess. Then she gave up on him when he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got arrested. He had been told he was a waste of space and everyone's lives would be better off if he didn't exist. Then when he makes a small mistake, a mistake that my mom and dad have made, you run him out of town. So, yes, he was bitter and maybe even a bit of a bully, but he's a man now. Despite all of that he's become a successful author, the owner of a successful business and he is a genuinely nice person and isn't afraid to tell me when I'm being a spoiled brat. I'd be glad if my child ended up like Jess." The audience was stunned into silence. Rory rarely gave impassioned speeches, yet here she was defending Jess's honour. They always considered themselves as people who took care of their own and that the town was a safe haven for those who needed it, but they treated someone who should've been welcomed as if he was the devil.

"And another thing," Rory added as she got her second wind. "I won't be raising my child alone! My child's father, whose name is Logan Huntzberger, is going to be there. We dated in college and we got back together recently. He loves this baby and me so much, he's going to be a good dad. He wants to give our child the type of home we didn't have. He doesn't want our child to be wondering why their parents don't love them. While I never wondered about mom, I always wondered if my dad loved me. Our child will never wonder if their parents love them because they will see every day how much we love them, and how much we love each other. I have complete faith in him, I'll never be alone because he would never leave me, we've left each other enough times to last multiple lifetimes. He's it for me! So, you can stop with this single parent nonsense right now. My life is not restricted to the town limits, Taylor. I have people and family outside this town. Much to everyone's dismay."

"Good for you honey." Patty piped in as Taylor was still too stunned to speak. "We are very proud of you and I'm glad that you've made your own family. That's the beauty of growing up. Leave the girl be Taylor."

"Yeah, Taylor."

"Leave her alone!" Were among some of the shouts heard from the rest of the town people before the meeting was adjourned Patty said to Taylor "I'm taking away your crazy ice cream man uniform because of that stunt." Patty said as she marched out of the dance studio.

"Patty you can't take another man's uniform!" Taylor argued as he raced after her.

The town meeting broke up leaving Rory feeling very proud of herself. She didn't often stand up for herself when she would get railroaded by the town, she generally went along with whatever they said. But she had stood up for herself, defended Jess, and defended Logan. Gone was the passive little girl known as Rory Gilmore, in her place stood someone who was sure of herself and wasn't afraid to take people on who were attacking those she cared the most about.

This crazy town would always be home but it was time to move on from her childhood and take on the new adventure that was staring her in the face. And she couldn't wait to start.

* * *

**AN: Review if you please! **


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Here you go! It's a little shorter than the last few chapters but I hope the content makes up for it. I actually do love Lorelai and Rory's relationship but I think that Rory needs to break away from Lorelai a little and that would make Lorelai completely lose her mind. **

**Hold on to your hats people, this chapter is going to be a ride.**

**On with the show!**

* * *

The next few days flew by in a flurry of activity. Rory spent the majority of her time packing the last of her things and loading them into Luke's truck and her Prius. She had never seen her life packed away like this and it was interesting to see. She only ever took her essentials before but now she had packed up her entire life and was starting new. Stars Hollow had always been her home base and she was finally, permanently leaving and she was glad.

Lorelai on the other hand, not so much. Rory knew that Lorelai was upset about her moving, but Rory was sensing something else happening with her mom and she hadn't pointed out what exactly it was. Rory sighed knowing that laying in bed longer wasn't going to solve her problems, so she got up and finished the last of her packing.

There wasn't much left, just the last of her clothes, a few books, and her laptop. She packed everything up, stripped the bed and put the sheets in the wash and headed to the crap shack.

The last of her things were loaded in, then they headed out. Luke was driving his truck, while Lorelai rode up with Rory in her Prius.

Rory and Lorelai had spent the first half hour or so of the drive bantering and bickering over music. They had pulled over for a caffeine refuel and got back on the road, they had been back on the road for fifteen minutes before Lorelai changed the subject.

"Are you sure about this, babe?"

"What do you mean, mom? Rory said distractedly.

"Are you sure about moving? I always said that you should put yourself before a boy, and here you are, moving to be closer to a boy! A boy who has treated you terribly more times then I dare to count! You shouldn't be doing this, you should come home." Lorelai had somehow managed to go from calm, to hysterical and back to calm in four sentences. After Lorelai's outburst, Rory was starting to think that Lorelai's behaviour had less to do with her moving and more to do with the choices she was making.

"Mom, I'm not moving to be closer to Logan. It's a definite bonus but it isn't the only reason and you know this. I'm moving because I got a good job in New York." Rory said calmly, she wanted to avoid getting a reaction out of Lorelai.

"A job he set up for you!" Rory sighed, she pulled over into a gas station and pulled out her phone to text Luke that she had to pull over for a minute because she and Lorelai had to talk.

"Mom, the journalism business is run on nepotism, especially now and I have the best contact in the business. Logan may have called me first and didn't put out a wider job posting until he offered it to me, but it doesn't make me any less qualified. I've wanted a job like this since Yale, and I may have gotten it in an unconventional way but I have been handed an opportunity and I'm not going to turn it down." Rory was still trying to stay calm but was getting more worked up by the second.

"You have always wanted to be a foreign correspondent! You never wanted to settle and let other people do the writing and the dirty work."

"No, mom," Rory said finally giving in to her anger. "My dream changed. I am a person who likes stability and routine, I like having somewhere to go and assignments to complete then be able to come home to the same place every night. Sure, I wanted to travel and see the world, but I need somewhere to call home. It was you who wanted me to be a foreign correspondent. I tried to tell you that I had different dreams for my life, but it was as if you didn't hear me!"

"When did you tell me that you wanted to do something else? I would have listened!"

"When I first graduated, that day I met Christiane Armanpour. I told her I wanted to write for a major daily and when we got home you started talking about a day when I could rival her and that I'd be a better correspondent then her. Then later when I was on the trail and when I was freelancing. You kept pushing me towards something I didn't want."

"If you didn't want it, why didn't you come home?"

"Because I didn't want to come home! That's your life mom, not mine. I didn't want to spend my life in Stars Hollow. I wanted something more!"

"What's wrong with my life? With our life?" Lorelai said heatedly

"Nothing. I loved my childhood, but it isn't what I want forever."

"You're turning into one of them! Someone who doesn't have to work for anything and expects the world on a silver platter!"

"Maybe this job did just fall in my lap and I have definitely had my spoiled moments, but I'm not turning into some trust fund brat. I did that, it wasn't a whole lot of fun. Don't think for a minute I haven't had to work for my successes. I have spent the last ten years running in circles and working my ass off to compensate for Mitchum blacklisting me. I'm finally getting rewarded for my effort mom. The nepotism in journalism has been working against me for years, now it's doing me a favour and I am taking advantage of it. I thought you knew this?"

"I do! But it makes me angry that you are taking advantage of connections that others don't have! I didn't get my first job through connections."

"No, you didn't, but you didn't put in an application and have an interview either. You showed up at the Independence Inn and Mia felt bad for you. I at least have the resume, experience, and qualifications to back up my position." Rory said confidently.

Lorelai was quiet after that. Rory was proud of herself for making Lorelai see reason, or at least get her to be quiet for a minute. Rory started her car back up and pulled back onto the interstate. When Lorelai noticed the direction, they were headed she finally spoke up, "Where are we going? Stars Hollow is the other direction." Lorelai had hoped that her silence would sway Rory into seeing her side, but it had backfired.

"I know. Brooklyn is this direction, which is where I'm moving too, and you said you'd help me. I will not drive the 45 minutes back to Stars Hollow to drop you off then drive to Brooklyn. You can pout if you want to but today is moving day and I am going to move." Rory spoke with such a finality to her voice that it startled both her and Lorelai.

Lorelai was silent the rest of the ride, but Rory could tell that this wasn't over.

* * *

They had finally gotten to the apartment in Brooklyn after a very silent car ride. They pulled up behind Luke who was looking a little out of his element. Rory got out of the car, while Lorelai stayed behind and glared at Rory out the windshield.

"Hey, Rory. How was the ride?" Luke glanced towards the car and a confused look crossed his face as he saw Lorelai in the passenger seat. "What is she doing?" He said nodding towards the car.

Rory shrugged. "Pouting. She told me that I was turning into a trust fund brat by using nepotism in my favour I told her that I was taking the job whether she liked it or not and I wasn't going home so now she refuses to get out of the car."

"Seriously?" Luke said angrily

"Luke, don't. She does this thinking that it will make me bend to her whim."

"Rory," Luke said startled. "She is giving you the silent treatment. The last time you did this to me you were 16 and I had tried to give you decaf coffee."

"Yeah, she does this sometimes."

"Well, she can't stay in there all day."

"I'm not bending to her whims, I've done enough of that. If she wants to stay in the car, then she can, I'm not her mother." Luke looked at Rory carefully, he normally tried to stay out of Rory and Lorelai's fights. But he could tell that Lorelai was not being fair to Rory and Rory had bent to Lorelai's whims a lot more than was anywhere near healthy.

"Ok, you don't have to bend to anything but I'm going to try to get her out of the car. I've got a secret weapon." Luke then produced a couple of travel mugs of coffee. "It's my special blend. I was going to use it get her to leave but I think I'll use it now."

Rory laughed, Luke did know Lorelai well and he came planned for having to lure Lorelai somewhere and the best way has always been with coffee. "You came prepared."

Luke shrugged defeatedly and went over to the car. Rory couldn't hear but she watched the interaction as she rummaged through Luke's truck bed. Luke had leaned into the car through the open window and said something to Lorelai. She adamantly shook her head in the negative, clearly angry with what Luke had said. They were clearly arguing and continued to do so for a few minutes. As they did so the building manager came up to her to give her the keys, sign a few papers and tell her that the furniture she ordered from her shopping trip with Lane had been delivered and that everything was done according to her instructions. Once Rory was done with the building manager, she looked back towards the car to see Luke pulling the travel mug out from behind him and Lorelai perked up. He waved the mug around a little and Lorelai moved to get out of the car.

Rory tried to make herself look busy as they walked over to her. "I haven't forgiven you. But my husband is sneaky, he brought coffee and who am I to say no to the elixir of life."

"Duly noted. What are you taking up?" Rory said chuckling a little

"I think I'll supervise. I could almost be a professional by now and who am I to break what up until now has been a flawless system."

Rory rolled her eyes and Luke protested. "Lorelai, she shouldn't be lifting anything."

"Alright, calm down. I'll take something. But I want to see the place first." Lorelai said in a way that Rory couldn't quite define.

"That's actually a good idea. Open the doors, make sure it's structurally sound and I can change any light bulbs as we see them." Rory laughed and went to open the doors and clear a path. The delivery people should have the larger furniture set up and it would be good to see what they did before they started bringing in boxes.

When they walked in Rory saw that everything was in more or less the right spot, the sofa was against the far wall with the small tv stand across from it. "Kitchen, Living Room, and breakfast nook" Rory pointed out to Luke and Lorelai as she walked through her new home.

She had told the delivery men to put the kitchen table and chair next to the island and the desk under the window until she could take the bench seating out of the breakfast nook. One of the bookshelves was corner to the desk, one was next to the tv stand which meant one was in the bedroom. There was an armchair next to the bookshelf.

"Walk-in closet, pretty much what sold the place. Laundry room and storage, bathroom, future nursery with a walk-in closet." Rory said as she opened the miscellaneous doors branching off the hallway behind the kitchen. "And this is my bedroom. Complete with walk-in-closet and en-suite bathroom." When Rory looked in the bedroom she saw her bed assembled next to the door, the matching dresser on the opposite wall, an armchair in the corner by the window and the bookshelf in the corner by the bathroom.

"Everything seems sound," Luke said as he swung the bedroom door open and shut, before heading into the bathroom to do whatever he thought was necessary. "Is there anything you need me to do before we start hauling things up from the truck?"

"Yeah actually. Can you pull the benches out of the breakfast nook? It's just big enough for a little home office. Then can you move the desk in there so it's opposite the window and one of the bookshelves along the far wall?"

"Are you sure?" Luke said a little apprehensively. He had never lived in a place like this, but he figured something like that would be a big deal.

"I'm sure. I already talked to the building manager and they okayed it. Other people have done bigger renovations then that. Logan suggested it actually, I was on the fence between this place and another that had real office space, but the closets were almost non-existent and it only had one bathroom."

Luke shook his head and muttered what sounded a lot like 'women and their bathrooms' before leaving to get his tools.

Rory quickly hollered "Thanks, Luke!" Down the hall after him.

Rory turned to Lorelai who hadn't said anything on her little tour to ask her opinion. "So, what did you think?" Rory said hopefully.

"It's nice," Lorelai replied shortly. "How about you give me a tour of the neighbourhood? Give Luke a chance to unload the truck and rip out those benches." Lorelai wanted to get out of the apartment, hoping that the neighbourhood would give a better impression then the apartment did.

Rory took Lorelai to the diner a few blocks away and to the park to give her a tour of the area, the conversation was abnormally stilted, Rory was trying to avoid an argument with Lorelai, while Lorelai didn't want to have a fight with Rory in public.

They had eventually made their way back to the apartment and started unpacking boxes. Luke could feel the tension between mother and daughter and it was starting to make him uncomfortable. For the first time in years, he tried to break the ice. "So, how'd you find this place?" Luke cringed, he was never good at small talk and found it pointless.

"The usual way, online. I just googled condos for sale in Brooklyn and went from there." Rory said looking up from the box of books she was sorting.

"You told me you weren't ready to buy a condo." Lorelai said in a confused manner from her spot at the kitchen table. Luke had moved the furniture around so that the table was by the window and the office furniture was in the breakfast nook turned office.

"I wasn't then, I am now."

"I thought it was because you couldn't afford it." Lorelai said snippily

"Not with my meager paychecks. But I now have a reason to live permently in the city, so I need a place. I thought about renting but it cost the same to rent a place with two bedrooms in a nice area then to buy one." Rory knew what was coming the moment she mentioned money, so she stood so she could square off with Lorelai properly.

"How much did this place cost?" Lorelai said flippantly

"1.5 million dollars," Rory said pointedly

"1.5 MILLION DOLLARS!" Lorelai shouted. Luke and Rory both sighed at Lorelai's reaction. "How did you pay for that huh? You use your trust fund, or did you dip into your inheritance?" Lorelai said heatedly

"Yes, mom. I did use a little bit of my inheritance to pay for a nice place for me and my child to live. This place was the least expensive of the places I looked at too." Lorelai silently glared at Rory, hoping that Rory would cave. Much to Lorelai's horror and Luke's amazement and pride, Rory glared right back. The silent staring contest went on until Lorelai looked down at the mug in her hands. Rory smirked in victory and went back to unpacking some boxes.

"What's wrong with renting? Or somewhere less expensive? Is the working class not good enough anymore? Who needs to work their way up in the world or do things for yourself when you have millions of dollars at your disposal! What's next? Mansions? Estates? Hired help? Oh, I know you could mooch of my Inn staff since you already know they've got the credentials! Have a nanny raise your kid because why do it yourself if you could pay someone to do it for you!" Lorelai hollered

"Mom!"

"Lorelai!" Both Luke and Rory chastised her.

"What?" Lorelai said looking at Luke. "You don't need to spend millions on a good place to live. I proved that. Most people on the planet prove that everyday. We could help you find somewhere just as nice, and for less." Lorelai pleaded with Rory.

"No mom. I like this place, Logan was here when I saw it and helped me decide between this place and another. I trust his judgement mom, he was the one who suggested I turn the alcove into a office. I don't need somewhere cheaper, I like this place. And anyway, I start my job on Monday morning, I don't have time to move again. So, just stop it!"

Lorelai was quiet for a few minutes before speaking up, "Where'd this furniture come from?"

"I bought it with Lane. I told you we were going shopping." Rory said confused.

"I thought you were going browsing. This stuff isn't to your taste! There isn't one piece of funky or tacky furniture here." Lorelai said frustrated.

"Mom, it isn't to your taste." Rory said pointedly. "But this is all stuff I like. Plus, I went shopping with you for other things."

"That was all small things. Now that we're on the subject, how did all of this get here anyway?" Lorelai said suddenly coming to a realization.

"When I went into Pottery Barn and bought the furniture, they saw the name on my credit card. They asked if I was related to Emily Gilmore and when I said I was they insisted on delivering even when I said they would be bringing it here. They were so thrilled to be getting society clients."

"Society clients!" Lorelai shrieked. "We aren't society, we hate the type of stuff they sell in those stores."

"Mom. Enough! You were allowed to decorate your home in your style, and I'm allowed to decorate my home in mine. It's classy and a little funky. Just the way I like it. Classic and vintage looking furniture with funky accessories. Now either be quiet and help me unpack or leave."

Lorelai glared at Rory and seethed for a minute before stopping to the kitchen and started roughly unpacking the boxes. Rory sighed and let Lorelai slam her way through the kitchen. A few minutes passed when Rory saw Lorelai go for a light pink box that Rory had put next to the fridge.

"Wait!" Rory yelped as Lorelai went to grab the box.

"What now?" Lorelai snapped.

"Be careful with that! It's breakable." Rory carefully took the box, placing it on the bar part of the counter. She unwrapped the tissue paper and pulled out an antique Royal Albert tea pot, creamer, sugar bowl, and four tea cups and saucers. All light blue and decorated with white polka dots, extremely detailed light pink roses and 22 karat gold trim.

"What is that?" Lorelai said shocked as Rory carefully put the tea set on the counter.

"It's a tea set." Rory said simply, knowing it would piss off Lorelai that she didn't launch into a ramble.

"I can see that!" Lorelai heatedly yelled. "Where'd you get it?"

"Grandma gave it to me." Rory replied relaxed against her mother's glare.

"Oh." Lorelai said relieved. "Of course, its from my mother. Only she would give us a teapot." Lorelai laughed, not noticing that Rory disagreed with her. "It's so ugly and we have no use for a tea pot. Gilmore Girls only drink coffee, you would think she would know that, but the woman doesn't listen." Lorelai said snidely.

Lorelai thought that maybe Rory was still her mini-me, and that things weren't changing as much as they seemed at first. How wrong she was.

"I like it." Rory said confidently. "I think it's pretty, and it's an antique. It's made out of fine bone china. Apparently, it was a Royal Albert set from 1942, Grandma's mom got it as a gift after Grandma was born. The story goes that your great-grandfather was so pleased about grandma's existence that he got a first edition tea set to celebrate her birth."

"Stupid society people. What's wrong with a pair of booties or a onesie?" Rory rolled her eyes thinking that Lorelai would take issue with those as well. "That's what he chose. I like it." Rory repeated slowly, as she carefully put the set away.

"But, it's a teapot." Lorelai said disgustedly.

"I have nothing against tea or their pots, I'll drink it sometimes. I always have. Plus, the baby hardly tolerates coffee so I drink it more often now." Rory said flippantly. Lorelai gapped open mouthed at Rory, not believing what she was hearing.

"You drink tea?" Lorelai said baffled by Rory.

"Yeah, just a little. It's better for my stomach, heart rate and I can't have much now that I have the bean to think about." Rory smiled as Lorelai just stared at Rory shocked.

Lorelai was silent looked around the apartment confused for a few minutes. It was almost as if she wasn't believing what was in front of her. Eventually, Lorelai pulled herself out of whatever trance she was in and looked at Rory. "I'm going to go." Lorelai said angrily. Lorelai quickly gathered her things and went to the door. She looked back at Luke who was on the floor in front of the couch assembling the miscellaneous tables Lorelai and Rory had bought when out shopping. "Are you coming Luke?" Lorelai said easily.

"No, I'm going to help Rory put the rest of this together then move in the rest of her things. You can go bug the owner of the diner down the road and I'll get you when I'm done." Luke said dismissively. Lorelai huffed and left.

Rory sighed and slumped down on the couch finally letting herself relax. She put her head on the back of the couch and closed her eyes. Letting herself fully process what happened and she realized how exhausted she was.

After a few minutes, she relaxed and got back up to unpack more boxes.

* * *

Rory started sorting the boxes that had been put in her bedroom when she heard voices coming from the stairs. She knew Luke wasn't one to start talking to just anyone so she walked out to the main area to find Logan putting down the grocery bags he just brought up.

"Logan" Rory spoke softly

"Hey, Ace. Looks like I got here just in time for the fun to start." Logan smirked as he gestured to the piles of boxes and bags piled around the apartment.

Rory smiled, blown away that he had come to help move her in on a Thursday afternoon. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to help my girlfriend move into her new apartment."

"Shouldn't you be at work?" Rory said stunned

"That's the nice thing about being the boss, I can take some time off when I want too. The place looks good Ace." Logan smirked at Rory knowing he surprised her.

"You sure?" Rory questioned quietly. "It's not too big or too expensive? You don't think I should find a cheaper place somewhere else? I mean, I don't need to spend over a million dollars on an apartment! I certainly don't need an antique tea set from the 40's!" Rory had started to tear up a little as her ramble went on, startling Logan.

"Whoa, Ace." Logan came closer to Rory and gripped her shoulders tightly and looked her in the eye. "What's going on? What happened?"

"My mom asked me if I was too good for working class people now and if I was going to start poaching her staff for hired help and have a nanny raise the baby." Rory chocked out between sobs.

Rory slumped forward into Logan's arms and he wrapped his arms around her, so he was holding her up. Logan sighed frustrated with Lorelai. He knew something was going to happen, but he had been hoping that he would be there for Rory when it did, he was secretly hoping he was wrong and that there wouldn't be any type of blow up.

"It'll be ok." Logan gently whispered to Rory as he kissed her head.

"What's wrong with teapots?" Rory muttered into his shirt.

"Absolutely nothing, baby." Logan was still confused about the teapot issue, but he knew better then to interrupt her meltdown to ask about it. Logan gently rocked Rory trying to get her to calm down. When she had relaxed a little, he lifted her into a bridal carry and moved over to the couch, sitting down with her on his lap. She curled into him and kept crying, every once in a while, mentioning mansions, nannies and teapots. Logan just held her, let her cry and would whisper reassuring words in her ear.

As she started to calm a little Logan shifted so that he could rain kisses down on Rory's face. He kissed both eyelids, her cheeks and the tip of her nose. He noticed that she smiled when he kissed her nose then leaned down and kissed her lips.

After the kiss, he leaned is forehead against hers and smiled at her. "Feeling better?"

Rory smiled and nodded backing away from Logan a little so she could focus on his face. "Yes I am, thank you."

Logan cocked his head to the side and smiled slightly at her. "You're welcome." He said softly

Rory untangled herself from Logan, so she was sitting next to him, that was when she saw Luke silently observing the whole scene from the hallway. "Oh, sorry Luke." Rory said slightly embarrassed that Luke had witnessed the whole display.

"No, that's ok Rory." Luke paused a second glancing between Rory and Logan. "Can I ask a question?"

"Sure."

"What was that back there, with you mom?" Luke said concerned

"It was her just her usual nonsense." Rory replied

"Her usual nonsense? You had a massive meltdown!" Luke said shocked

"Pregnant lady hormones." Rory said dismissively "But, Luke," Rory looked at Luke. "You've been married to my mom for close to two months and you've been essentially married for ten years. Why are you so confused? You should know that she does this."

"I knew she didn't always react well when things didn't go her way. But that looked suspiciously like a temper tantrum."

"That's because it was. It took me a while to figure out that it's not best to engage when she throws one of those, it's best to stand your ground."

"She does like to throw those." Logan added. Luke took in the man next to the girl he always thought of as a daughter and realized something. Logan really loved her, even after all these years and she would be safe and loved with him. He didn't need to worry about him breaking her heart.

"When did you learn that?" Luke said focusing on the conversation at hand.

"I had a loose understanding of it by the time I was twelve or thirteen, but I fully figured it out when I went to Yale. When I left the tantrums became more frequent."

"Especially after we got more serious, right?" Logan looked at Rory for confirmation.

"Yeah. She didn't like that I was falling for a society boy and liked to show me just how much she disliked it."

"The most spectacular one was after the Grand Theft Boating incident." Logan said referencing her time off from Yale.

"That wasn't exactly my crowning glory, but it could have been handled better."

Luke just stared at Rory in disbelieve. "You parented your parent." Luke said suddenly

"Yeah, and no one really parented me. I figured it out on my own. I was never really a wild kid but when I had my wild moments I wasn't really kept in check."

Luke nodded his head in agreement and got lost in thought. "That would explain so much. I'm a little impressed you turned out so well after all that."

Rory shrugged casually "It happens. Way worse things happened to Jess then happened to me. I had questionable parenting from a young and immature mom who never fully grew up. Jess' mom was actually negligent, and an addict, how he turned out so well is amazing."

Luke sighed "I should have done something earlier." Luke said remorsefully

"What's done is done, Luke. We survived."

Luke was quiet for a few minutes and surveyed the half-unpacked apartment. "What are you going to do about Lorelai?"

"Not much you can do. Just hold on and brace for hurricane Lorelai."

"What do you mean by 'brace'? Wasn't that hurricane Lorelai?"

"Nope. That was just the first few gusts of wind. Something more is coming, I'm just not sure what."

Luke looked at Rory and then he did what he always did when he was uncomfortable, he started to repair things. He got back on the floor and finished putting together the furniture. Rory smiled at the man she had always considered a father and thought about how grateful she was to have him in her life. "Thank you, Luke."

"Anytime Rory."

Luke finished up putting together the last of the furniture, he was about to move it to the proper spots before Logan stopped him and told Luke that he'd move the furniture.

"Well, I'm going to go Rory. I'll talk to you later."

"Thank you, Luke." Rory said as she gave him a hug. Luke awkwardly returned it, glad that she was comfortable enough to do that

"You're welcome." Luke backed up a little and grabbed his tool box and headed towards the door. "I'll try and calm down your mom."

"Thanks, for trying." Rory smiled sadly knowing that Luke was likely going to end up getting caught in the cross fire.

"And you," uke looked sternly at Logan, not being able to help the protective father routine. "Take care of her, and if you hurt her or that child, I will kick your ass."

"Understood, sir. But I'd never hurt her or our child." Logan wrapped one arm around Rory's waist, dropped a kiss on the crown of her head and extended the other hand to shake Luke's hand.

Luke nodded as he shook Logan's hand, knowing that he could trust him with Rory. "Bye Rory. I'll see you soon."

"Bye Luke, thanks for everything."

"Anytime, I mean it." With another round of goodbyes and another hug, Luke left to track down Lorelai and give her a piece of his mind.

* * *

Logan led Rory back to the couch and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Ok, I've got to ask Ace, what is the deal with a teapot?" Logan said hesitantly, he didn't want to spark another meltdown, but he really did want to know what she was talking about.

"Grandma gave me a family heirloom as a house warming present. She said now that I had a place of my own, she was giving me this tea set from the 40's."

"Oh." Suddenly the meltdown made more sense. Lorelai must have had a bad reaction to the heirloom and how much Rory paid for the apartment and then his comment about the apartment was the final straw. "Would you tell me about it?"

Rory smiled, nodded and wandered into the kitchen getting out the Gilmore tea set. "My great-great-grandfather was so pleased when grandma was born that he bought her mother a first edition, Royal Albert tea set."

"An original Royal Albert from the 1940's?"

"1942. But grandma said something about this set not being released until '43."

"It's beautiful."

"I think so. I'm glad Grandma trusted me with the family heirloom."

Logan smiled as Rory started rummaging through some of the boxes strewn about the apartment, he noticed that she looked absolutely exhausted and wondered if she had sat down at all today. He was about to ask if she wanted to sit down when he saw her yawn and sway a little. Logan rushed over to her side so that he was supporting her weight. "Are you ok, Ace?" He said concerned.

"Yeah, I'm just exhausted and hungry." Logan nodded as he gently led her to the couch and sat her down.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"I had breakfast at Luke's before we left." Rory said sheepishly

"Rory, that was almost five hours ago."

"Closer to six I think."

"Have you had anything to drink?" Logan said sternly. Rory just shook her head and tears started to well up in her eyes. "Oh, Rory." Logan said gently noticing she was getting upset. He kissed her forehead quickly before going to the kitchen to get her some juice.

When he returned, he sat nest to her put the glass of apple juice in her hands. "Drink up." He gently added and smiled slightly when she drank the glass.

"I'm sorry." Rory said softly.

"What are you sorry for?" Logan said honestly confused.

"I should've taken better care of myself and noticed that I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since this morning."

"It's ok. It was an easy fix." Rory shook her head adamantly and looked like she was going to cry again. "Ace, baby, look at me please." When Rory still wouldn't look at him he gently guided her chin so that she was facing him. "Hi," He smirked at her which got her to smile a little, which had calmed him down. "You said you were hungry, what do you want to eat?"

"Do we have any chicken?"

"Yeah, I can grill it up for you if you point me in the direction of your pans."

"Try the boxes that says 'Luke's property.'" Rory said with a smile.

"Lorelai?"

"Yep. You should've heard her when she found out I owned kitchenware. She nearly had a heat attack. Logan laughed, fully believing that Lorelai would be horrified at the idea of Rory owning pots and using the kitchen for more then just storage.

They ate quietly and when they were finished Logan told Rory to stay put and he'd deal with the dishes and the mess.

"Are you planning on unpacking my boxes because that is the majority of the mess." Rory teased as she went to break into a few more boxes.

"No, no, no." Logan gently said from the kitchen. "You sit and relax and I'll unpack."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I won't let our precious cargo get bounced about because you're be stubborn. "

"Logan, I'm pregnant, not sick. I can help unpack the apartment."

"Well, you've had a long day as it is and I'm pretty sure you only sat when it involved unpacking. So, sit and you can bark orders at me from the couch."

"Well if you're not going to let me help and are banishing me to the couch, you're going to have to get me whatever I ask for." Rory smiled as she teased him.

"Yes dear." Logan smiled as Rory barked out a laugh as Logan started unpacking the piles of boxes and cleaning up the lunch dishes.

* * *

The day had gone on in a similar fashion, Rory wanting to help, Logan not letting her off the couch then Rory demanding food and drink every time Logan told her to stay put. It was oddly domestic and both Logan and Rory revelled in the feeling of being together properly once more.

Rory woke up suddenly, briefly confused as to where she was. After a brief moment of panic, she remembered that she was in her new apartment and that likely Logan had put her to bed before he left.

She stretched out in order to roll over and she hit something warm and soft on the other side of the bed. She looked up and saw that it was Logan fast asleep. She rolled over so she could look at him better while he slept. He looked so peaceful while he slept. She had missed this, falling asleep next to him, her books on her nightstand and his papers on his. It was a small and simple thing but it was those little things that she missed the most.

She smiled and snuggled into his side thinking that this was where she belonged and that she might just get her happily ever after, after all.

* * *

**AN: Next chapter, dragons den with Shira Huntzberger. Also, that tea set really exists! It's part of a 100 years collection from Royal Albert and it was based on the 1940 designs, I just tweaked it so it really was from the '40s**

**Review if you please.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I am so sorry for the delay in updating I hope that the length of the chapter makes up for it. I had finals and term papers to write. On the plus side, I completed my BA and I'm graduating with a university level history degree, much to the shock of everyone. Also, this chapter was giving me grief for some unknown reason, but I sorted it out an here you go.**

**On with the show!**

* * *

Rory woke up the next morning to find Logan smiling down at her and gently rubbing her stomach.

"Good morning, Ace."

"Good morning, Logan." Rory gently cupped Logan's cheek pulled him down and kissed him.

When they broke apart Logan broke into a large grin. He laid down next to Rory and draped his arm over her waist and pulled her close. Logan kissed Rory's temple and they laid in silence revelling in the moment they were having. Their moment was unfortunately broken by the ringing of Logan's cell phone. Logan groaned and got out of bed to get his phone. Rory watched him as he had a brief conversation and pinched the bridge of his nose. He hung up and looked at Rory.

"Work emergency?" Rory asked calmly but a little upset that he'd have to race out of the apartment.

"Nope, just Finn. I do have to be at the office within the hour though. A meeting starts in an hour and a half and the boss can't be late."

Rory smirked and rolled out of bed and stretched. She was about to ask Logan to start the percolator when suddenly felt the urge to vomit. She took off towards the bathroom and quickly emptied the contents of her stomach. It only took a second for Logan to figure out what had happened and he took off after Rory. He found her hanging over the toilet and he squatted down behind her pulled her hair back and rubbed her back until she seemingly finished and slumped back into him.

"How are you feeling, Ace?" Logan murmured into her hair then he kissed her temple.

"I'm ok. The baby doesn't like mornings." Rory said as she absentmindedly rubbed her stomach. Logan got this stupid grin on his face when Rory offhandedly mentioned their baby. Something about the candidness of the comment made it very real. They were having a baby. Rory looked up at Logan and saw his grin. She smirked amused at his expression. "What's got you all happy Huntzberger?"

"We're having a baby," Logan said gleefully

Rory snorted in amusement. "I was wondering what the vomiting and that ultrasound were all about?"

"Sorry Ace, but something about the way you said how the baby doesn't like mornings and you rubbing your stomach like that, made me realize that this wasn't some elaborate dream or a vivid hallucination, it's actually happening."

"It's really happening." Rory grabbed his hand and put it on her stomach. Something about that moment, sitting on the bathroom floor, Logan's hand on Rory's stomach right after Rory threw up was one of the sweetest moments they've ever shared.

Despite how sweet it was Rory was starting to get hungry and she knew that at some point Logan was going to have to go to work. "I really am loving this, but can we get off the bathroom floor now?" Rory laughed lightly at Logan's face as he realized exactly where they were.

"Yeah, Ace." Logan got up then helped Rory to her feet. Logan kissed her lightly before leaving the bathroom to start breakfast.

* * *

Rory came into the kitchen to find a cup of tea and some pancakes sitting on the breakfast bar with Logan unpacking some boxes. Rory sat at the counter amazed at the breakfast in front of her. "This looks amazing, thank you." Rory smiled at Logan before digging in.

"How does the baby feel about pancakes?" Logan said

"The baby likes pancakes. We could do with some syrup and apple juice though."

"Coming right up," Logan said as he got a glass of juice for Rory then sat next to her with his own pancakes.

They ate in comfortable silence for a while, simply enjoying the domesticity of it all, before Logan spoke. "What are your plans for today?"

"I'm not sure. I'll unpack some more, but I want to get a feel for the neighbourhood and I am going to figure out exactly how long it'll take me to get to the office from here. I'd like to work on my book a little as well"

"You're writing a book?" Logan said stunned. He knew she had it in her, but he didn't know that she was actually doing it. "What's it about?"

"My mom and I, our life together," Rory said nervously.

"I like it, it's a unique story and it is one only you can tell. Where'd you get the idea?"

"An old friend of mine, he told me just how unique that story was and since he was a published author why shouldn't I be one." Logan let out a light chuckle, agreeing wholeheartedly.

"You absolutely could be published if you wanted too," Logan said with a smile, then a thought occurred to him. "Are you going to keep writing even though you've excepted the job, and everything else going on?" Logan knew that Rory liked to throw herself completely into a project and with the new job, the issues with Lorelai and a baby he was worried something would be dropped.

"I'm going to keep writing it, even if it's just to finish it. The book knocked some of the cobwebs loose and helped me gain some perspective and I need to finish it, so I feel like myself again."

Logan nodded in understanding. "Do you have any bites yet?"

"My friend has written a few books and owns a publishing company and he said that they'd take a look if I wanted to, I think I'll take him up on it."

"That's a good idea, getting advice from others in the business is never a bad idea," Logan said. After a minute he remembered that Rory said she wanted to figure out how long it'd take to get to the office, which spurred him into voicing another thought. "I know you said that you'd take the subway, but would you consider driving your own car to the office? It's only fifteen minutes in bad traffic and I really don't like the idea of you taking public transit when you're pregnant."

"Pregnant women do all sorts of things every day. That includes taking subways." Rory folded her arms in defiance.

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure that most of them would rather be in their own cars if they could."

"I'm not too good for the working class Logan." Logan's eyebrow shot up, realizing this might have more to do with Lorelai then Logan thought.

"I know." Logan cocked his head regarding Rory debating whether to ask about Lorelai. "Is this about Lorelai?"

"Maybe," Rory whispered biting her lip.

"Oh, Ace. Just because you don't have to take public transit if you don't want to, doesn't mean you think you're better then the people who do." Logan said softly.

Rory sighed thinking about what Logan said. She really didn't want to be taking the subway to indecisiveness and tried to help. "You wouldn't be the only one in the office who drives to work and there is a parking garage not far from the paper. Just think about it, please?"

"I'll think about it. But I'm not using a hired driver on a regular basis." Rory said pointing her finger at Logan.

Logan laughed and wrapped Rory in a hug. "Deal."

Rory backed out of the hug and moved to put the dishes in the dishwasher. "What is the game plan for tonight?"

"Scotch. And lots of it." Logan said with a smirk.

"Well that all well and good for you, but what about me? What did your mother say when you told her we were coming? If your mother mentions that Fallon Girl, Odette or implies any horrid insult directed at our child I will become hostile." Rory was working herself up and Logan knew he had to calm her down. He didn't know much about pregnancy and babies, but he did know stress was bad and this wasn't even the most stressful part of the day.

"Ace, baby, calm down." Logan came to Rory and hugged her until she relaxed in his arms. "I won't let her disrespect you or our child. I promise. She says anything that upsets you in any way and we'll leave. Ok?" Logan felt her nod against his chest.

"Ok," Rory mumbled against Logan's chest. Rory went and sat down at the bar then looked at Logan. "But you never answered my question."

"I called Bellatrix and informed her that we were coming to dinner. She sounded like a typical socialite mother saying how pleased she was to see her son again. I did not tell her I was bringing you but I did tell her I was bringing a guest who she said she couldn't wait to meet." Rory and Logan rolled their eyes in tandem at that. They both knew that she was saving face, even over the phone. "Shira also informed me that dinner was at 7 pm sharp, and when I dared to bargain on the time she told me that dinner has always been served at 7 and that any women worth their salt knows that dinner is at seven. I also called Honour and told her that I was having dinner with mom and that I needed back up. What about the rest of the weekend?"

"I called Grandma and told her that I was coming up Saturday evening but that I'd have to leave Sunday afternoon at the latest. I also called dad and told him I was coming Sunday, but I wasn't sure of the time."

"I called the boys and told them I was coming up for a few days and that I wanted to meet up Saturday afternoon."

"Poor, Finn! That's just too early." Rory snickered thinking of the crazy Australian.

"Colin promised to have him there."

"And sober?"

"Now Ace, we both know that no one can ever promise to deliver him sober."

"Of course, what was I thinking." Rory smiled at the ridiculousness of the situation. "So, how are we getting there?"

"I'll have Frank pick you up at five and he'll take you the plane. I'll meet you there."

"Sounds good. I don't want to wear my dinner clothes on the plane, who knows what your mother would say about that."

"Please don't worry about my mother. I'll stand by you no matter what, ok?" Logan said wrapping Rory in his arms.

"Thank you. But, I don't want to give your mother any more ammunition, so dinner clothes?"

"Change on the plane. We're landing right in Hartford so ti wouldn't be any different then when we drove down from New Haven" Logan shrugged. "What did your mom say about us staying at the Dragonfly?"

"I spoke to Michel. He was pleased I was bringing someone who has sensible fashion sense and happily reserved one room for tonight."

Logan looked at Rory in disbelief. He knew things between Rory and Lorelai were tense but the fact that she didn't speak to Lorelai made him nervous. "She knows we're coming, right?"

"Yes, I told her last week. But when I called the inn Michel told me that she was busy and that she didn't want to speak to me."

"She said that?" Logan said angrily

"Who knows. The message came through Michel." Rory said half-heartedly.

"I'm sorry Ace," Logan said with a guilty look. He knew that many of the issues that were between Rory and Lorelai were stemmed from his presence.

"It's not your fault. I knew mom would flip when she realized I wanted a life outside Stars Hollow and the fact that I'm taking advantage of everything she despises to achieve it is making her angry." Logan looked sadly at Rory. He knew that it was bothering her but there wasn't much he could do other than be there for her.

"I'm sorry, but I need to get to the office. I'll see you tonight." Logan kissed her lightly then headed towards the door.

"Work dork." She said with a wide grin on her face.

"Work dork lover." Logan came over and kissed her again. Harder than the last time but just as fast. "I love you."

"I love you too. Now get to work before the news industry ceases to exist." She laughed as she shoved him out the door.

After Logan left Rory smiled thinking that she could get used to a life filled with moments and mornings just like this.

* * *

Rory was breaking in her new office space by at her computer looking at different car models trying to determine which type of car and model she liked. She quickly surmised that she wanted a mid-size SUV and for reasons that she didn't want to analyze she was leaning towards luxury cars. She knew that she needed to trade in, but she was also seriously considering trading up.

As she was making pro/con lists for the three cars she had narrowed it down to, an Infiniti QX60, a Lincoln MKC, and a Range Rover, her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and noticed that the call was coming in from Hartford.

"Rory Gilmore," Rory said apprehensively. She rarely got unknown calls from Hartford and they had decreased even more since her Grandma moved to Nantucket.

"Ms. Gilmore, this is Sharon Collins of the Montgomery and Campbell law firm. DO you have a moment to talk?" The professional sounding voice coming through the phone startled Rory. She knew that the firm the woman was from was the firm that handled her grandfathers will.

"Yes, I do. What is this regarding?" Rory was desperately trying to remain calm but it was not going to plan.

"This is regarding some of your inheritance. The lawyer that handled your grandfathers' estate was an old friend of his and was up there in age himself, the issue actually lies in the fact that that lawyer did not directly handle your grandfathers' assets. There were some specific directions that your grandfather wanted to be followed at the time of his death, and due to the change over the directions weren't followed."

"Alright. What exactly does that mean?"

The woman on the other end of the line sighed as if debating whether she should tell Rory the whole truth. "You clearly have something more that you need to tell me so please tell me," Rory said as sternly as possible without sounding threatening.

"You were left a substantial amount of money and property from your great-grandmother, Lorelai Gilmore the first. The inheritance first went to your grandfather, but he put it aside to transfer to you at the time of his death. Due to the change in barristers, you did not get your full inheritance at the time of your grandfathers' death. I can't give you specifics over the phone because of the size of the inheritance but if you'd come to my office we can go over the specifics."

Rory's head spun with the amount of information that she had just received. She figured that her great-grandmother left her something, after the showdown regarding her trust fund when she was 16, she assumed she was left something. Now she thought that the amount that she was set to inherit was significantly higher then she thought.

"Ms. Gilmore?" The voice cut through Rory's train of thought and reminded her that someone was speaking to her.

"Yes, I am still here. When may I come to your office?" While Rory was still freaking out, her voice sounded much crosser then she had planned.

"Considering the circumstances, anytime you like." The woman was trying to pacify Rory and they knew it. The law firm had made a grave error and this woman was left to clean up the mess of an old man.

Channelling her inner Emily Gilmore Rory spoke with more authority then she normally did. "I'd like this straightened out as soon as possible. I live in New York City but I'm in Hartford often. May I call you back when I confirm other meeting times and will be in Hartford?" Rory hoped that she had sounded authoritative enough to get what she wanted.

"Yes, that's fine." Said the mildly skittish voice of the lawyer through the phone.

"I'll call you back in a little while. Goodbye." Rory hung up not waiting for a reply. She took a deep breath trying to settle her rattled nerves. Her grandfather's death had been difficult on everyone and she really did not want to revisit that time in her life. It seemed like one minute she was hearing the doctor tell them that they were sorry, and they did everything they could, and the next she was listening to the lawyer tell them what her grandpa had left them. Sometimes it felt as if she had no real time to grief him. His death broke her, but she spent much of the time immediately after his death holding her grandma together and monitoring her mom that she didn't work through her grief in the same way. She wondered if claiming what her grandpa had left her instead of shaming it, would help her finally heal and so far it seemed to be working. She still missed him more than she ever thought possible but claiming her inheritance instead of abandoning it made her feel like she wasn't abandoning her grandpa. As ridiculous as that sounded.

Once Rory felt she was centred enough to stand up and make it to the kitchen she went and made herself a cup of tea. A few minutes later she took her cup of tea and settled herself on the couch and called Logan. She wasn't sure he would pick up but even if she just heard his voice message and rambled into his inbox it would help her make a decision. She was pretty sure she knew the plan and they could alter it if things got messy, but she wanted to avoid that if possible.

"Hey, Ace. What's going on?" Logan's voice relaxed Rory immensely and helped her focus.

"Hey, I'm a little surprised you picked up."

"I always have time for my baby mama," Logan said knowing that it'd rile her up.

"Don't ever call me that again. Or else you'll be sleeping on the couch."

"Duly noted. Honestly, I'm so glad you called. It gave me an excuse to duck out of a board meeting where some of the members still think I'm that frat boy who crashed his father's yacht."

"The old guard isn't taking the change over well I assume."

"Not at all. Most of the old guard have no understanding of the society we live in so it's just a mess. Luckily enough some people have an understanding of how things have changed, and a few others understand that they don't know everything that we can get some things done. But the men my father revered are all waiting for me to fail."

"You saved HPG, you know that I know that, and they know that even if they don't like it. And, you're the boss, you've got all the power and don't you forget it. But I need to ask you something then I'll let you get back to your old guard."

"Ok, what's up?"

"What time are we meeting the guys tomorrow?"

"Around 3. Why?"

"I got a phone call from the law firm that handled my grandpa's estate. Apparently, something was missed and I didn't get my full inheritance."

"Whoa," Logan said shocked. "How is that even possible? Richard always seemed like someone who would have all contingencies taken care of."

"Apparently it was from my great-grandmother. She left it to my grandfather and he put it aside separately with instructions that I was to get everything at the time of his death. There was a changeover and the lawyer who we spoke to after my grandpa died didn't handle his estate when my grandpa set up his will so, he didn't know about the extra inheritance."

Logan let out a low whistle in awe. "Do you know how much was missed?"

"No idea. The woman I spoke to said that there was some property but that the inheritance as a whole, was too substantial to talk about over the phone."

Logan let out a low whistle in awe. "That means that the amount was massive."

"How massive?"

"A couple hundred million if I had to guess."

"What?" Rory shrieked through the phone.

"With an amount that high a firm would be reluctant to not manage things with the utmost care. Especially if an error had already been made. Did she say when she wanted to meet with us?"

"No. But I really want to get this dealt with as soon as possible. I was going to say I could meet her tomorrow."

"Really?" Logan said surprised. "Tomorrow is Saturday."

"I know but we'll be in Hartford tomorrow and I'm more than a little annoyed that they made a mistake like this at all. I start work Monday and I don't want to have to explain that I need time off to deal with a law firm that can't even deal with a simple will." Rory said getting frustrated.

"Ace, you've gotta calm down," Logan said gently. He got the feeling that he was going to spending a lot of the next six months telling her to remain calm.

Rory took a breath trying to calm herself then finished. "I know this is going to sound a little snooty-"

Logan laughed at the word choice. "Snooty?" He said laughing

"Yes, snooty," Rory said lightly. "The Gilmore's have influence in Hartford and this company handled Richard Gilmore's estate and screwed up and it sounds like they screwed up big. The least they could do is meet with the heir outside of business hours to rectify that mistake."

"You sound like a prominent member of high society when you say that," Logan said thoughtfully.

"Well, it seems like that I might have a net worth that is in the same ballpark as yours and I'd like to know exactly what happened to that money."

"That's totally reasonable. My mother, father, sister, and your grandmother would all have that lawyers head on a stake if they knew what happened." Logan said smirking thinking of how Emily would have the poor lawyer fearing for her life.

"I don't want to castrate the woman. She was doing her job!" Rory yelped. "The other partners hadn't called me, but they must've known about it. She was trying to fix an old man's mistake and I'm not going to vilify her for it." Rory said sternly.

Logan smiled listening to her ramble. He was so pleased that Rory was embracing high society life a little, but he didn't want her to lose herself completely in a world that could easily swallow you whole. "I wasn't planning on it, Ace. How about we meet with the lawyer at 11:30 or noon. That way we can still have some time in Stars Hollow and be able to meet with the guys."

"Do you think it will take that long?" Rory said apprehensively.

"Probably," Logan said regretfully. He didn't want this weekend to be any more stressful than it already was, he was just going to have to be there for her and keep the stress to a minimum. "I'm sorry Ace, but I really need to get back in there."

"That's ok, go! Go deal with the old guard and show them who's in charge." Rory said quickly, suddenly realizing how long they'd been on the phone.

"I'll see you tonight Ace."

"See you later. I love you, Logan."

"I love you too, Rory. Bye"

"Bye." Rory hung up thinking that she was more relaxed then she had been since her phone range earlier and she knew that Logan had a lot to do with that. She heard him call her Rory, and she knew that he said it shows that he wasn't teasing or bickering like they often did, but that he really did love her.

Rory thought about that for a minute and then dialled the phone number that the lawyer gave her.

"Sharon Collins office." A chipper voice answered that Rory knew belonged to a secretary.

"Hello, I'd like to speak Sharon Collins please," Rory said professionally

"Who is calling?"

"Rory Gilmore, in regard to the Gilmore estate," Rory said not knowing if the information would have been listed under her grandpa's will or her great-grandmothers.

"Yes Ms. Gilmore, she is expecting your call. I'll transfer you now." The secretary sounded mildly panicked when she discovered who she was speaking to. Rory wondered what made her react in such a manner.

"Thank you," Rory said pleasantly hoping to make the secretary relax.

Rory heard a few beeps that she assumed was the call being transferred then the phone picked up. "Collins." A voice answered quickly.

"Ms. Collins this is Rory Gilmore. I'm calling about making an appointment to speak with you about my inheritance." Rory said professionally but kindly

"Yes, ma'am I remember. When would you like to come in?"

"Don't bother calling me ma'am, my name is Rory," Rory said calmly hoping to not terrify everyone she spoke to in the office.

"Alright Rory, then you can call me Sharon. When would you like to come in?"

"As soon as possible. Due to the nature of the appointment, I would like this dealt with quickly. Now due to my family's status and the reason for this visit I was hoping that you'd make an exception?" Rory said sweetly but sternly. Desperately trying to convey that she wasn't threatening but she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Of course, Rory. We would be pleased to help whatever way possible. What type of exception were you asking for?" Sharon said slightly apprehensive.

"I live in New York City but I'll be in Hartford over the weekend and I was hoping that this could be dealt with while I was there. I'm hoping that we could meet tomorrow around noon. I know that it's a little unconventional but due to the circumstances I hope it wouldn't be a problem." Rory tried to channel her inner Gilmore. Her grandpa was a businessman through and through and he could be quite convincing, she hoped that she came across similar to her grandpa.

"That shouldn't be a problem. There are generally people around the office over the weekend and the firm was willing to do whatever it took to resolve our mistake." Rory knew that she was playing the world of big names and big money and that people were going to treat her a certain way if they knew exactly how much she was worth.

"Thank you for accommodating me. I know that it was an unusual request." Rory said kindly.

"Not as strange as you might think. I will see you tomorrow at noon. Have you been to the firm before?" Sharon said happily. She was thrilled that she was able to appease a high profile client.

"No. When my grandfathers will be originally dealt with, Mr. Harris came to us."

"I am sorry about Mr. Harris' error. The firm is on the 10th floor of Goodwin Square, on Asylum street. If there isn't anyone at the desk call me and I'll come and get you."

"Thank you, Sharon. I will see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow. Goodbye" Rory hung up the phone not knowing what fate awaited her in Hartford over the next 24 hours.

* * *

At 6:55, Logan and Rory were pulling into the expansive driveway of the Huntzberger's estate. The flight had taken 45 minutes and there was a car waiting for them when they disembarked.

Logan stared up at the mansion, trepidation written all over his face. Rory didn't like the anxiety that was rolling off him. She knew that he wasn't the same man as he was the first time that they came here but the years of disappointment and resentment that came from his family could not be erased by suddenly being the head of it. She grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze in order to break him of the spell he had been cast under. It seemed to work and Logan suddenly looked across at her. She smiled, what she hoped was a reassuring smile then spoke, "It's going to get worse the longer we sit here. Let's go face the dragon lady together."

Logan groaned then scrambled around a bit trying to find his keys and his wallet. Rory smiled sympathetically knowing that he would probably always turn into a nervous wreck when he was faced with his family.

They were standing on the front stoop delaying ringing the doorbell when Logan looked at Rory and had a revelation. He wasn't the boy that he was when he first brought Rory home anymore, he wasn't even the person who couldn't stand up to his father. No, he was a man who had a baby on the way, who had the love of his life standing next to him and he had to stop acting like a frightened child and be a man and protect his family. So, with that thought, he squeezed Rory's hand and rang the doorbell.

A skittish looking maid answered the door and waved them inside. They handed the maid their coats and smiled politely which seemed to calm the poor maid immensely. "What's your name?" Rory gently asked the maid. Logan smiled knowing that Rory was trying to show the maid a little kindness that, knowing his mother, she rarely saw.

"Monica." The maid said quietly.

"Thank you, Monica," Rory said sweetly.

"Monica" Logan chimed in from beside Rory. "Can you please tell us where I can find my mother?"

"Mrs. Huntzberger and Mrs. Hurst are in the sitting room." Rory turned to Logan and mouthed 'Hurst?' In confusion.

"Josh's last name is Hurst," Logan said, clearing up Rory's confusion. "We'll see ourselves back, and we apologize in advance." Monica just looked at the pair in confusion before turning away to put away the coats.

Rory chuckled lightly as Logan led her through the mansion that wasn't nearly as impressive as it was the first time around. "That poor girl."

"C' mon, Ace," Logan said chuckling.

Sooner than either would like they reached the sitting room, they both hesitated a bit before Logan steeled his resolve and marched in with as much authority as he could muster, pulling Rory with him.

"Hello, Mother," Logan said coolly as he bent down to kiss her cheek.

"Logan, I'm so pleased that you could join us for dinner. It's been so long since you've been home." Shira said in her best society mother voice.

Honour, on the other hand, was actually thrilled to see Logan and was not afraid to show it. She bounced out of her chair giving Logan a hug. "Logan! I've missed you! Tell me everything." Honour disentangled herself from Logan and noticed Rory standing next to Logan. "Rory!" Honour shrieked and she threw her arms around Rory making her squeak in surprise. "I'm so glad to see you!" Honour dragged Rory over to the couch, lightly pushing her down, then sat in the chair next to her. "What are you doing here? Does this mean you and Logan are back together? I told him he was a moron for giving you that stupid ultimatum. He has never been as happy as he was when he was with you. Please tell me you're back together?" Honour said practically bouncing in her seat.

Rory and Logan laughed at Honour's excitement, pleased that at least one Huntzberger would be excited for them. Before they could dwell on that any longer Shira interrupted Honour's rambling. "Logan, why did you bring this guest with you tonight?" Shira said snidely. She was still trying to regain some sense of propriety before letting her real feelings known.

"This guests name is Rory. I brought her here because we have some news that we'd like to share." Logan looked over at Rory silently asking if it was alright to tell them. She nodded in agreement and he squeezed her hand, bracing themselves for the hurricane Shira. "Rory and I are back together." Honour let out a little yelp of excitement and Shira was attempting a glare. "There's more," Logan said apprehensively. He looked towards Rory silently asking if it was alright to continue. When she nodded, he looked at Honour and Shira he squeezed her hand and slid forward as if to shield her from the oncoming assault. "Rory's pregnant. We're going to have a baby."

Rory looked around the room nervously while Logan wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close as if to protect her from an oncoming explosion. No one said anything for a moment until Honour let out an ear piercing shriek. "A baby!" She squealed. Honour jumped up and pulled Rory into a hug. "I can't believe my baby brothers going to be a dad!" She yelped hugging Logan as well.

Honour was still rambling on in an almost scarily excited way when Shira finally spoke. "Honour, control yourself."

The shrill voice of Shira brought everyone to a halt. "Logan, you cannot be with this girl. I had hoped that you had finally gotten her and the little rebellion of yours out of your system when she did the only thing I approved of when she said no to your proposal. Then you had moved on to women who could make you happier and who were better suited to you and the life that comes from being a Huntzberger wife." Logan was fuming but before he could interject Shira continued speaking. "This girl," Shira sneered "Does not come from the proper background and would tarnish your reputation. Logan think for a minute, how do you know the child is yours if she really is pregnant. She is using you to gain access to our fortune. She was raised by a single mom who had her at sixteen. She clearly had questionable morals and Rory could be just as much of whore as her mother."

There was a brief moment of silence where Rory, Logan and Honour were too stunned to speak and Shira thought she had won until Logan spoke up. "ENOUGH! Mother, you are way out of line." He was standing and glaring at Shira in a way that he hadn't done before. "Rory," He enunciated her name in an exaggerated manner "Makes me happier than I ever thought possible. You will not insult her EVER again or imply anything ugly about her or OUR child ever again. If you do, I will cut you off so fast it will make your head spin."

Honour and Rory looked on dumbfounded as Logan threatened his mother. "Logan, you wouldn't do that," Shira said in a panicking tone, clearly not knowing what to think.

"Yes, I would. I have more power and more money then grandfather or dad ever had. Hell, dad almost lost it all, and I was the one who brought it all back." Logan looked over at Rory who was staring at him in shock. Rory blinked, shaking herself from her stupor and smiled at Logan, silently giving him the support, he needed.

"You can't cut me off, what will people say? Would you kick me out of the house too?"

"Honestly mother I don't care what anyone will say. I wouldn't leave you on the street but you wouldn't be able to live in the way that you have gotten used to. As for the house, I would kick you out, considering it's in my name. All of this is mine, mother, and I can do as I wish." Logan spoke, harsher then he meant, but when Shira started demeaning Rory he simply lost his temper.

"Really Logan? What are you going to do? Marry her?"

"Yes, I am!" Shira gasped looking like she might faint, Rory smiled slightly and Honour looked like she was going to have the wedding planned before the argument stopped. "I never wanted the life that you and dad had," Logan said much calmer. "I wanted someone who I loved and who would love me, I wanted someone who was my equal and who could challenge me and would call me out on my crap. I never wanted the woman you approved of because they weren't who I wanted. They weren't Rory."

Logan looked at Rory who was smiling widely at him. Logan moved to go sit next to Rory and wrapped an arm around her. Before Logan could say anything to her, Shira stood up. "I'm going to get some air, I'll be back." Logan and Honour rolled their eyes while Rory let out a watery chuckle. "Never stopped smoking I guess."

"Nope," Honour said with glee making Rory smile. "She'll probably go through most of her packs before dinner is served."

"Throw in a shot of vodka and a few Xanax and you'll be ready for the next spin-off of Real Housewives."

"I've always liked her Logan, she is obviously to good for you," Honour said once she controlled her laughter.

"I can't agree with you more." Logan pulled Rory closer to him and planted a kiss on top of her head, both of them oblivious to the shit-eating grin that Honour was wearing. "You guys are too adorable. Despite what my mom says, I am excited that you two are sorting your shit out and are FINALLY pulling yourselves together. Even though I am thrilled about that, that doesn't compare to the fact that you guys are going to have a baby! Congratulations!"

Rory and Logan both thanked Honour and Rory smiled at Logan who was wearing a similar happy expression. "Honestly, I haven't been this happy in a while and everything finally feels like it's falling into place."

"Seriously, you two are making me nauseous. So, Rory, I know how close you and your mom are, she must have been thrilled to find out about the baby."

The happy expression that Rory was wearing gave way to one that resembled sadness. Rory looked over at Logan for support, and with a slight nod of his head, a smile and a light squeeze Rory began telling Honour about 'Hurricane Lorelai'

"Well, my mother did not take the initial news that well. There was some yelling, she told me that I ruined my life and that if I wasn't living in the past I wouldn't have gotten myself in this scenario and would never have gone back to Logan." She looked back to Logan with an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm sorry that she said those things about you."

"It's alright. I know how Lorelai feels about me and it doesn't surprise me that she said those things."

"Anyway, things were better after my step-dad talked us down until two weeks ago. My mom isn't thrilled with any of my choices. Logan offered me a job at a paper HPG just acquired and she was pleased with that, she seemed supportive, but I think she made up her mind up about Logan before I told her what happened. We got into an argument when I told her that we got back together and it spiralled from there. I'm making decisions that she doesn't agree with and is fighting with me or not speaking to me about it. It's irritating and frustrating."

"Your 49-year-old mother is giving you the silent treatment?" Honour said in disbelief.

"She splits between not speaking to me, or telling me that I'm making horrible mistakes and that I'm turning into a high society bimbo with no heart."

Honour just looked shocked while Logan looked angry. "She said that?" He practically growled.

"No, not exactly," Rory said patting his knee in a soothing manner.

"Ok, so what did happen." Honour hoped to steer the conversation back to the original point.

Rory shifted to face honour more directly, "I bought an apartment in the city, it was a great place in a really nice area of Brooklyn, and it cost over a million dollars. My mom flipped out and started yelling about how I dipped into my inheritance to buy it. When I told her that was exactly what I did she just lost it. Said that I was buying my way to the top, and why would I do anything myself if I could pay someone to do it for me."

"This doesn't make sense. You guys were always so close." Honour said, thinking that Rory and Lorelai's relationship came in between Logan and Rory.

"Yeah" Rory sighed realizing she was going to go over this again, and probably a few more times before the weekend was out. "We were close when I lived a small life in Stars Hollow, but once I branched out and realized that I wanted a life that resembled your life instead of hers things got worse. Every time I do something that shows I'm not totally against the high society life, like taking a job that I was offered because I have the best contact in the business, spending 1.5 million dollars on an apartment, or stand up for myself and do what I want despite her manipulation, she either quits speaking to me until I change my mind or yells at me. On the drive down to New York, she said that I was settling by taking the job at The Post and that I was uprooting my entire life for a boy. When I told her that I wanted the job and that I never wanted to be a foreign correspondent then told her that I wanted more then what Stars Hollow could offer she started insulting me and the fact that I had essentially jumped the line because of my connections. I pushed back and said that I was qualified and that she didn't have to go through the interview process to get her first job. She became the manager through nepotism and she doesn't see that. When I disregarded her and kept going to the city, she didn't speak to me for the rest of the trip. I'm doing something she didn't pre-plan or approve of and is loudly showing her disapproval."

Logan pulled Rory closer to provide comfort as Honour thought about what had been said. Before anything could be said Shira came back in the room, reeking of cigarette smoke and with a society smile firmly in place. "Logan dear, can I assume since you and your friend" Logan and Rory simultaneously rolled their eyes at Shira's use of the word friend making Honour chuckle. "are still here, that you'll be staying for dinner?" Shira said in her standard society voice.

"No mother, we are not," Logan replied, the malice back in his voice. "We were talking to Honour, who is friends with Rory, and she wanted to congratulate us," Logan said grinning conspiratorially.

"Is this true Honour?" Shira looked at Honour with a mask of indifference that was slowly slipping.

"Yes, mother." Honour grinned widely, "I happen to like Rory and I think she is perfect for Logan and that they will be able to raise their children in a loving and supportive environment. Unlike some people I know." She looked pointedly at Shira as she said that last part of her sentence.

"Honour!" Shira gasped in shock, "I raised you and your brother in the proper way. This girl has-" before Shira could launch into another attack on Rory, Logan cut her off.

"I'd stop right there mother before you say anything that could have you out of your precious mansion," Logan said icily shocking Shira. She had never seen Logan take charge the way he was and only ever heard about it a handful of times. Seeing this behaviour made Shira understand that she was being overthrown and she was being replaced by her son and none other than Rory Gilmore, the girl she spent so much time despising.

"Logan…" Shira tried one last plea to her son but Logan wasn't budging.

"Rory, how about we go before anyone says anything they can't take back." Logan stood up and offered Rory his hand, she nodded slightly and stood to follow him out of the sitting room, once Logan had left the room to track down the terrified maid Rory whipped around and glared at Shira. "What exactly is your problem with me? I've never understood why you don't like me. It can't be breeding since I am both a Gilmore and Hayden." Rory didn't notice the shocked expression that was on Shira and Honour's faces. She also didn't see Logan return to the room to rescue Rory only to find her taking on Shira. "I know that it can't be money considering I'm likely worth more than you." Shira visibly blanched at that statement, but Rory continued before Shira could interject. "I've decided it must be that I wasn't somebody you picked out. I may not have grown up in this world, but I fit in perfectly since it's my birthright. I was a debutant, I went to prep school and an ivy league university, I was a DAR member and if I remember correctly you were never qualified to hold that position. Either that or you, are threatened by me. You're afraid I'll change things, but open your eyes, the Morgan's, McCrea's, Vanderbilt's and your precious Huntzberger's, some of the most powerful society family's, are all changing the way they approach things because the younger generation won't take your traditional bullshit."

The two women glared at each other but before anything else could be said Logan let out a laugh, breaking the stifling silence that had fallen over the room. Rory looked at Logan in surprise that eventually turned into a wide grin, while Shira was furious.

"You can't have more money than me. Even if you are a Hayden" Shira hissed at Rory, "You're just a lowly working girl." She all but spat out the last phrase.

Rory just laughed which made Shira even angrier. "There is nothing wrong with being a working girl. I like working. I'm starting a new job at a paper in New York on Monday with better pay and a job title that means I don't want your money. I tried being a society brat once, sorry guys." She quickly said to Logan and Honour, which was met by a quick shrug and a nod to continue. "I didn't like it and it wasn't who I was. I need a goal to be successful and driven." Shira just looked baffled, but Rory grinned smugly knowing she was about to throw the winning punch, "Now, as for how much money I have, I can almost guarantee I have more money than you, considering Logan's threat regarding the money. So, how much money do you have?"

"20 billion dollars," Shira replied smugly

"No, you don't. That's Logan's net worth. How much money do you personally have unlimited access to?"

Logan grinned at Rory's calculating expression, he's seen this before during business takeovers that were going badly, and the buyer found some damning information on the acquisition.

Shira sputtered a bit and muttered about needing some air before Logan jumped in. "Don't you remember mom," Logan said in a fake concerned voice, "You have 4 million and I give you a monthly allowance of 100,000 dollars." Logan smiled sweetly while Shira looked mortified.

"Thank you for clearing that up, Logan."

"No problem, Ace."

"Right, now Shira the proof that I have more money then you, my net worth right now is 250 million dollars. I was given the majority of the Gilmore estate after my grandpa died. I actually expect my net worth to go up before the weekend is up since I have more inheritance waiting for me from my great grandmother and the firm handling the affair asked me to come down without telling me exactly how much because the amount was large enough that they wouldn't divulge the specifics over the phone, other then the fact that the inheritance was substantial . They are actually keeping the opening their office specifically for me tomorrow because I am a noteworthy client. So, tell me again how I have less money?" Rory said smugly staring at a gobsmacked Shira.

As Rory smiled at Shira Logan stepped over to try and reign in the situation, no matter how impressed and amused he was by the turn of events. "Rory, are you ready to go? We do have other things to do this weekend, and despite how much I enjoy watching you take on my mother I would like some dinner."

Rory turned her attention to Logan and nodded at his suggestion. "I'm starving and I know Luke would make us whatever we wanted. He'll probably jump for joy when he finds out what I'm craving."

Logan snickered at the image of the surly diner owner bouncing in glee. "Well I wouldn't want to miss that, so let's go." The two of them left the room leaving a shocked Shira and a thoroughly amused Honour in their wake.

Once they got into the foyer Logan abruptly stopped and roughly pulled Rory into a kiss. They stood locked together until it became difficult to breathe. Rory broke the kiss when oxygen became absolutely necessary but stayed in Logan's embrace.

"What was the for?" Rory said with a dazed smile on her face.

Logan smirked down at Rory before speaking, "Can't a man kiss his gorgeous girlfriend?"

"You can, but that seemed brought on by something."

"Seeing you take on my mother and actually winning was ridiculously hot."

Rory grinned and burst out laughing then quickly kissed him. "As much as I'd like to continue this, we do have other places to be, and I can think of a thousand other places where I'd rather be then in your mother's house."

"You and me both, Ace. Let's go."

They quickly left the house and were heading down the road to Stars Hollow.

* * *

Logan and Rory were walking up to the diner when Logan suddenly pulling Rory to a stop. Rory looked at Logan confused before he explained why he stopped. "The sign says closed."

"This place is never closed to a Gilmore Girl," Rory said with a grin and went for the door.

When the bell above the door dinged open they heard Luke start yelling from the backroom. "Kirk, go home. I already you cannot sleep here when you and your mother get into a fight, I'm not a hotel." Luke came out into the main part of the diner to find a confused Logan and a grinning Rory in place of the mythical Kirk. "Logan, Rory, welcome back. Not that I'm not happy to see you guys, but why are you back so soon?"

"We're making the rounds telling everyone what's changed," Logan said, the oddly phrased statement made Luke's face scrunch up in confusion.

"What?"

"We're spending the weekend telling his family, grandma, dad and our friends from Yale that we're back together and that I'm pregnant," Rory said slightly exhausted. "We just came back from his mother's house." Rory sighed and slumped over into Logan, who quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and led her over to a table and sat her down.

Luke cringed remembering a few notable encounters with the Huntzberger's over the years. "Did you guys eat at all before you got here?" At the negative responses from both, Luke asked what they wanted to eat. Logan asked for mac and cheese, and Luke then asked Rory what she wanted.

"Can I have a soup, please? That pumpkin soup that you make sounds really good right now." Logan looked slightly baffled then glanced over to Luke who looked liked he had seen a ghost or was about to do a jig.

"I'm sorry what?" Luke said sounding equally shocked and giddy

"I'd like pumpkin soup and a glass of apple juice," Rory said offhandedly

"What, no artery-clogging burger with a truckload of coffee?"

"No, not really in the mood for it. Plus the baby doesn't like coffee." Rory said with a smile. She has said this to him before but he never seems to fully believe her when it comes up. Luke grinned and happily agreed to the order before all but bouncing back to the kitchen.

Logan stared after Luke in shock, making Rory laugh. "What was that?" Logan said completely baffled.

Rory laughed at the stunned look on his face before putting him out of his misery. "That was the closest thing you'll see to Luke jumping for joy."

"All right then," Logan said still baffled but not knowing what else to say.

* * *

Logan and Rory were eating their postponed dinner when Lorelai came barreling into the diner. She was heading towards the counter when she saw Logan and Rory sitting at a table and course corrected, unceremoniously dropping down into the chair next to Rory. "Hey Rory," Lorelai said with a little hope in her voice. She looked over at Logan and addressed him. "Evil Spawn."

"Mom! Don't call Logan that or I'm going to have Luke revoke your Grey's Anatomy privileges."

"No, don't, I'll be nice McDreamy just pulled Meredith out of the water after a ferry crash!" Rory and Luke simultaneously rolled their eyes while Logan was just confused, though he really should be used to it by now. "I'll be nice. It'll be easier now that he let you come home for the weekend."

Rory and Logan glanced at each other before Rory turned back to Lorelai, her defences rising. "He didn't let me come, I don't have to ask for permission, but I do consult him because I love him and respect him as he does me. That's the way adult relationships work." Rory said sternly, hoping to get her point across. Unfortunately, Lorelai ignored the statement and kept talking.

"Now that you're here for the weekend we can have a full Stars Hollow weekend. There's a town meeting tomorrow night then we can have a movie night. There's a planning meeting for the Christmas festival tomorrow afternoon and Taylor wants us to be the 'Most Festive Hamlet in Connecticut' so we're being lectured on proper small-town Christmas cheer."

Rory cut off Lorelai before she could continue. "Mom, we're only staying the night. We're spending some time in Hartford tomorrow to see Finn, Colin and Steph then we're going up to Nantucket tomorrow to see Grandma and on Sunday we're stopping in Boston to see Dad."

Lorelai looked at Rory, anger flaring in her eyes. She tried to tamp it down so she could try and convince Rory to stay. "Really? That's too bad. I know the town people will be upset that you're leaving them behind and abandoning them."

"As far as I know, most people are excited that I got my dream job." Rory tried to level Lorelai with an equally threatening glare as she called out for Luke.

Luke came out of the kitchen annoyed at being summoned in such a manner "What?"

"Do you feel that I'm leaving you behind or abandoning you?"

"What?" Luke said startled. When he got a good look at the stare down between Lorelai and Rory he understood what was happening. "No, I'm proud of you for achieving what you've always wanted, and so is everyone else around here. Except for Taylor, but he's an old crack who has a stick shoved so far up his ass that it's causing him sinus pain." Logan laughed at the visual of the town selectman that Luke provided.

"Mom, I can't be involved in every town event anymore. I'll come back for the festivals and big moments but I can't be involved in every little thing. Tonight and tomorrow morning I'm showing my boyfriend around my hometown and meeting up with some of my friends before we go into Hartford for a meeting and meet up with his friends. I won't be spending the limited time I have here doing solely what you want."  
Lorelai stared at Rory not knowing what to do. Eventually, she settled on her standby, the silent treatment. "Fine." She said in a clipped tone, and suddenly got up and left.

Rory sighed in exhaustion and put her head in her hands. Logan noticed that the encounter with Lorelai took a lot out of Rory and he started rubbing her back to get her to relax. "I'm sorry Rory," Logan said quietly

Rory looked up and smiled at him, hoping that it was reassuring. "It's ok, it's not your fault."

"Feels like it is."

Rory sighed in resignation, realizing that this wasn't something that could be easily fixed and she had fought enough battles without arguing with Logan about Lorelai's behaviour. "There's nothing we can do about her right now, so why don't we go to the inn and get some much-needed sleep. We've had a long day and I'm exhausted." Rory pulled out her puppy dog eyes when Logan looked about to protest to try and sway him.

Logan groan then caved to Rory's pleading. "If our kid has those eyes I'll be doomed."

Rory laughed stood up and gathered her things. "Let's go." She held out her hand for him to take. When he did she gently pulled him towards the exit before they left Rory addressed Luke once more. "Thanks for dinner Luke. And thank you for everything else."  
"Any time, Rory. No matter what."

Rory smiled at Luke before pulling Logan out the door towards the inn. Knowing that from then on, nothing would ever be the same.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading! Review if you please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Guys, I am SO sorry for the wait for this. I got super busy then I sort of lost my grove, but I'm back so I hope I might avoid pitchforks. **

**This chapter is a lot of filler but there will be more plot soon. Thanks to my lovely sounding board DaysCINGGRogan for getting me back into the swing of things. **

**On with the show! **

* * *

Rory and Logan spent the next morning touring around Stars Hollow and catching up with some of the more notable residents.

"She pinched my ass!" Logan yelped as Rory was nearly crying with hysterical laughter.

"I tried to warn you." Rory chocked out between laughing fits.

"I thought you were kidding!" His high pitched voice just made Rory laugh harder.

The two were cutting through the town square when they were intercepted by Lane. "Hey, guys." Lane turned and when she noticed Logan's red face yelped, "He's been Pattied!" which just made Rory laugh harder. Once the two friends calmed down Lane spoke to Logan again, "How are you liking your initiation to Stars Hollow, Logan?"

"I could have done without the crazy lady pinching my ass then saying I looked like her sixth husband. Did everyone know she was going to do that?" Logan said a little irritated.

Rory patted his shoulder mockingly and teased. "What can I say, you've got a cute ass." Logan grabbed Rory by the waist pulling her to him and whispered in her ear, "I've got proof to show just what you think of my ass." Rory turned beet red as Logan lightly kissed her cheek.

Before Rory could say anything Lane jumped in, "You guys are nauseatingly adorable." Lane quipped as she fell into step beside them. "Babette would have done the same thing, and you should have run into her first since she lives next to your mom, what's going on?"

Logan looked at Rory, not knowing how she would react to having to explain what's going on between her and Lorelai to Lane. Rory gave him a small smile before turning to Lane and explained the state of her relationship with Lorelai. They looped around the town square again as Rory got into the specifics, by the time Rory was finished explaining the situation Lane was shocked but not all that surprised and voiced her opinion. "Wow. Lorelai always seemed so relaxed about whatever you wanted to do, but now that you bring it up she got more nervous once you went off to Yale and started making your own decisions. I can understand why she might not be overly thrilled about Logan, no offence, but I'm really surprised that she's not supportive of you taking this job. This seems like the perfect job for you, Rory I love you, but you were never going to be a foreign correspondent, you're too much of a homebody for that."

"I agree. I tried to explain all of this to Lorelai but she wasn't having any of it. She's convinced that I'm throwing my life away for Logan, to become a high society trophy wife. She refuses to see that I'm pulling my life back together, that I got a good job that I'm excited about for the first time in almost ten years, for her it's just about Logan and that I'm not repeating history."

"Look, I'm on your side but whatever is going on between you two, is between you guys. I just have one question, are you happy?"

Rory's smile could have been spotted from a satellite she was grinning so wide. "Extremely happy." Lane grinned and pulled Rory into a hug. Once the two girls separated Lane turned towards Logan with a stern look on her face.

"Now, pretty boy, I don't care how happy she is or how much she loves you, if you hurt her, I will beat you to a pulp."

Logan was completely taken aback by the Korean girl's threat, which made Rory snicker. "Hey." Lane blurted out "I may be tiny but wrangling twin boys has given me a strength you wouldn't believe."

"Lane," Rory interrupted before either Lane or Logan could say anything "I really appreciate you threatening Logan, but it's not necessary. We actually have to go to Hartford for a meeting."

"Is this with the lawyer about your grandpa's estate?" Logan's eyebrows shot up in surprise but before he could interject Rory spoke.

"Yep. I still have no idea what is going to happen but it's adding an air of mystery to this already stressful weekend."

"Going to tell the rest of the family this weekend huh." Lane smiled sympathetically.

"Yep. Friends from Yale first, then Grandma, then dad. And this is after the lawyer and whatever mayhem she has in store for me."

Lane gave her a hug whispering "It will not be quite as bad as you think." She backed away with a wide grin on her face. "Hey, if Mama Kim can come around to my life choices, anyone can be ok with yours. Even Lorelai."

"Thanks, Lane. I hope your right."

"I am, now get going but come back soon, you can't leave me in this loony bit alone!"

"Never! I can't have my kid not knowing their auntie Lane!"

Lane smiled before pulling Rory into another hug. When they pulled apart Rory smile then spoke; "I really do have to go, but I'll talk to you soon!"

"Yes, I want to know what happened with the mystery lawyer."

"Of course. Bye Lane."

"Bye Rory." With one more quick hug between the childhood friends, they headed towards the car. Ten minutes later they were on their way to Hartford to deal with the unavoidable mess that was their family.

* * *

An hour later Logan and Rory walked into an extravagant office building and went up to the law firm that was located on the 10th floor. Logan could feel Rory vibrating with nerves as she stood next to him as the elevator started its ascent.

"Ace, you're going to have to relax. It'll be fine."

Rory scoffed and turned to look at Logan. "Fine! They _lost _a part of my inheritance from the most important man in my life. They simply _forgot_ that I had another couple _million _dollars to my name. A couple million dollars Logan! And if your guess is accurate, which I'm thinking it is because you know more about this kind of stuff then me, it's a couple _hundred million_. Hundreds of millions of dollars they just neglected to tell me about! Their entire job is to make sure that when people die things go the way they want. They don't even have to deal with the fact that my grandpa is dead!" Rory's eyes went wide at that last statement as if it only just occurred to her that her grandfather was dead. "He's dead," Rory said as a whisper to herself than an actual statement to Logan.

Logan shifted so he could get a good look at Rory's face and realized that she had started to cry. He wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders and he started to whisper lightly to her when the elevator doors dinged open. Luckily for them, the elevator opened into a hallway just outside the law office, so he pulled her around a corner to give them some privacy. When Rory looked in his eyes she chocked out "He died," she said in between her sobs. The sobs broke Logan's heart and he gathered her into his arms which just made her cry harder. "Oh Ace, it's going to be ok." He said soothingly and kissed the top of her head.

"No, it's not!" Rory wailed "He died. His heart stopped beating and I'll never see him again." Logan didn't quite know what to say so he held her tight, rubbed her back and let her cry. He rocked her gently whispering calming words in her ear.

Slowly the sobs turned to hiccups then to whimpers as Rory calmed down. "Breath baby, just breath" Logan said gently as he tried to get her to calm down a little. After a few minutes, Rory had gone quiet and she slowly moved so she could look at Logan. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

"What are you apologizing for?" Logan said shocked

"For crying, for not staying calm-" Rory looked at his shirt and cringed. "For ruining your shirt."

Logan barked out a laugh at the last thing Rory mentioned. "The shirt can be washed. But why are you apologizing for not staying clam?"

"After grandpa died, grandma was a mess and mom is never good in a crisis so I had to make the plans for the funeral and call the lawyer and keep calm. I took over grandpa's role as the calming presence and the one with the plans and I'm failing." Rory trailed off with tears gathering in her eyes again.

"Ace, you shouldn't have had to do all that by yourself. Did you even have a chance, or give yourself a chance to really mourn him?" Rory just shook her head in response. Logan sighed not overly surprised by her response. "Rory, you don't have to be the calming presence around me. I'll be the person you lean on, the one that you cry all over and you are allowed to really mourn Richard. He was the most important man in your life and I'll be here while you do it."

"You sure?" Rory said watery. Logan just smiled sadly at her and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sure," Logan said. "Are you feeling a little better?"

"Yeah. I'm actually a lot better." Logan disentangled himself from Rory then grabbed her hand. "Then let's go deal with the lawyer and the suspiciously large amount of money you were left."

"Suspiciously large? See I knew something was wrong-" Logan cut Rory off with a quick kiss before she could collapse into hysterics.

"Rory, let's go get all the facts ok?" Logan said calmly, hoping that he could appeal to her rational side and love of information.

"Ok" Logan nodded and gently pulled her towards the doors to the law firm.

* * *

Logan guided Rory through the doors of the law firm and up to the desk. A slightly bored-looking receptionist looked at them before speaking. "Hello? How can I help you?"

Logan was about to speak up when surprisingly Rory spoke up. "Yes, I'm here to see Sharon Collins."

"Is she expecting you?"

Rory put on her best Emily Gilmore impersonation because, by this point, she was more than a little fed up with the situation. "Yes. I'm Rory Gilmore, I have an appointment at noon to talk about my _missing inheritance_." The receptionist paled under Rory's glare and quickly called down to the lawyer to tell her that they had arrived. "She'll be right out. Would you like me to get you something to drink while you wait?"

"Green tea if you have it." The receptionist nodded and ran off. When the secretary was gone Logan burst out laughing.

Rory whipped around and glared at him not having turned off the angry society women setting she was currently on. "What?"

"That woman ran away from you because she was terrified of what you might do to her."

"No, I-" Rory started to protest but then her eyes went wide as the realization struck her. "Oh my god, I did. I'm horrible! I didn't mean to terrify the poor woman!"

Logan just chuckled at Rory's rambling before speaking. "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you aren't high society. That performance would put your grandma to shame."

"My mom always hated the way that grandma would treat the people in her employ, whether it was the maids or personal shoppers. As much as I love my grandma and no matter how much my life is starting to look more like hers then my moms, that was one part of her personality I never wanted to replicate." Rory said quietly.

"Rory, you're angry, sad and you're finally letting yourself grief your grandpa. It's ok if you lash out a little. I believe it's perfectly normal." Rory started to argue but Logan interjected before she could. "I have seen your grandma at her worse, when Richard has health scares or when someone really angers her, and she is much MUCH worse than that. So, if that's you at your worse, I think we'll be ok."

Before Rory could say anything else a woman who strangely resembled a young Ms. Patty came around the corner. "Rory Gilmore?"

"Hi," Rory stepped closer to shake the woman's hand. "Nice to meet you. This is my boyfriend, Logan Huntzberger." Rory gestured to Logan then he stuck his hand out to shake the lawyer's hand.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Sharon Collins would you come with me to my office then we can get down to business."

Sharon led Logan and Rory through the law firm to a large office in the corner. Once they were all inside she gestured for them to sit down as she moved to the other side of the desk and picked up a large file folder. Before anyone could speak the receptionist came bustling into the office and handed Rory her tea before quickly leaving.

"I'm sorry about that." Rory broke the slightly awkward tension that had developed after the secretary's entry. "I took some of my emotional issues out on your secretary. I really didn't mean to frighten her."

"That's alright. Let's get down to business shall we."

"Yes please." Logan could tell that Rory was getting agitated so he reached over and squeezed her hand.

"I do have one question before we get started if that's ok?" Rory just nodded her head in acceptance. "The name I have of the beneficiary on these documents is different than your name. But I have been assured that it is you. Can you explain that please?"

"What name do you have?" Rory asked.

"Lorelai Leigh Hayden Gilmore"

Logan's mouth dropped open when he heard Rory's full legal name. He knew that Chris' last name was Hayden but he never knew that she had his name in any way.

Before Logan could get too far into that train of thought patted his knee and gave him a reassuring smile before turning to the lawyer. "Yes, that my legal name."

"I'm sorry to have to do this, but can I see some ID to that effect?"

Rory nodded and pulled her driver's license out and showed it to the lawyer. "My mother named me after herself and my great-grandmother was also Lorelai Gilmore, so I go by the nickname Rory to avoid confusion."

"Right. Thanks, sorry about that." Rory simply waved off the apology then Sharon looked over the paper before speaking again. "When we spoke on the phone I originally told you that there were specific directions your grandfather wanted to be followed in the event of his death that involved the estate of your great-grandmother."

"Yes." Rory nodded urging Sharon to continue.

"When your grandmother was still alive she decided that she wanted to leave you more than your trust fund."

"Now that I think about it, I never received that trust fund. Can I still claim it?"

The lawyer looked at Rory baffled by the statement before continuing. "Yes, of course, you can. You can claim it today when we sort out the rest of your inheritance. Do you know how much was in the trust of your great-grandmother?"

"No, it was never mentioned. When Trix died the trust went to my grandpa but I never heard about it again."

"Well, the trust contains about 15 million dollars. She kept adding to it even after you turned 18." Rory looked gobsmacked but the lawyer continued before anything else could be said. "When your great-grandfather died he left a substantial amount of money to your great-grandmother and your great-grandmother had family money separate from her marriage. Now she made you the main beneficiary for her estate. She had implicant instructions that when she died the money would go to Richard until you married."

"Why wait until I was married to receive the money?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry." Logan realized that Rory was starting to get worked up again and he gave her hand a squeeze hoping that she wasn't working herself into a tailspin.

"What does the estate contain?" Rory asked curiosity filling her voice

"Well, there is a substantial amount of money in the estate as well as properties. Monetarily speaking the estate has close to 150 million dollars. Which is on top of the trust fund."

Rory's mouth dropped open in shock. "I'm sorry did you say that my great-grandmother left me a total of 165 million dollars."

"Yes, that seems to be the case."

"But why did that not go to my grandpa, and how did I not know about it?" Rory said utterly baffled.

"I'm sorry, I really don't know."

"Ok then, why did I not receive any of it until now?"

"That I do know. Your grandfather originally left his will in the hands of Janlan DuGrey." Rory snorted after hearing the name of her grandfather's lawyer. Logan looked at her confused but before anything could be said the lawyer kept speaking. "Mr. DuGrey was a very good lawyer and was a good friend of your grandfather, because of the nature of their relationship the extra issues regarding your inheritance were kept separate from his will and other people within the firm did not know the specifics of Richard Gilmore's estate. The issue directly lies in the fact that Mr. DuGrey died less than two weeks before your grandfather did. Because of the timing of his death and that the extra information regarding your information was kept from the rest of the firm, we didn't find out about the rest of the inheritance until I replaced another lawyer who retired."

"But how did you find it?" Logan interjected after a moment of awkward silence, Rory was too shocked to say anything so Logan took over.

"I was going through a safe and looking through some of the recently retired lawyers opened cases, because I was supposed to take the cases over when I found your grandfather's file. I went through it baffled that it wasn't opened because I knew that he had passed. I worked in the firm when your grandfather died so I heard about it."

"Oh my god. I don't even know how to respond to that." Rory said confused.

"I really am sorry about our errors and we'll do anything to fix it." The lawyer said solemnly.

"It's not your fault!" Rory said passionately. As much as she was angry at the whole situation, she understood that the woman in front of her was not to blame. She fixed a situation that would have gotten much worse as time went on and was taking all the blame herself. "You said something about a property?"

"Yes, there was one property that your grandmother instructed be left to you. It's a three-story country manor located in England, about a half-hour north of Southampton. The manor was built in 1785 specifically for your family and was handed down through generations. The manor itself is on 5 acres. The manor is worth 5 million pounds, which works out to almost 9 million dollars, though from what I can gather from the paperwork sitting in front of me, the personal value is much higher."

Logan and Rory were stunned into silence at what the lawyer was describing. Rory knew that her great- grandmother lived a grand lifestyle but she always assumed that it was slightly less ostentatious than her grandparents. Knowing just how much Trix had and left to her, stunned Rory to her core and she said the only thing that came to mind. "Holy shit."

Rory's outburst broke the tension that had grown in the office and Logan and the lawyer started to laugh. Logan was silenced quickly when Rory sent him a glare but he couldn't help but likely chuckle despite himself. "I'm sorry Ace. But that was a remarkably accurate sentiment for what you were just told."

"So, what this property has been sitting unused for 15 years?" Rory said her head starting to spin.

"I don't think so. While the money went straight to you the house did not. Your grandfather had to take ownership of the house and as far as I know, it has been looked after. Based on these bank statements, he probably employed somebody to keep the place in good shape."

"Ok, but then why did I not find out about it when we first went through his will?"

"I honestly don't know. It was filed with your great-grandmother's estate information instead of your grandpa's assets. I'm sorry."

Rory looked back and forth between Logan and Sharon not sure what to do with this information. Logan looked at Rory letting her lead their reactions knowing that this was going to be hard for her to hear and process. As Logan watched he noticed that Rory got her 'Emily Gilmore expression' on again. He was a little amazed that they got this far without her losing her cool. "What do I have to do to claim all of this?" Rory gestured vaguely in the direction of the will and other documents retaining too her inheritance. She was clearly upset and baffled and was trying not to meltdown right there in the law office they were in.

Sharon shuffled through her stacks of papers and handed Rory a large amount, all flagged for where she needed to sign. "This is for the money inheritance, just sign where it's marked and fill in your banking information on the last page and everything will be transferred to you by the end of next week." Rory nodded and started reading the pages when she finished reading parts she would hand them off to Logan to see what he thought. When they finished reading the large stack of legal papers, Sharon picked up another stack of papers and put them in front of them. "These are about the property in England. They are simply for taking possession of the property and transferring everything to your name." Rory and Logan repeated the process they used on the previous papers with these and once they were finished Rory looked up at the lawyer, without returning the paper. "Would you mind if we had our lawyer take a look at these documents before we sign anything? I just want to make sure that everything is accurate, and considering the amount of money involved I want to make sure there is no loophole anywhere." Rory smiled at the lawyer, which if Logan hadn't known any better would assume was a 'society smile,' and considering the last hour or so, it could've been.

The lawyer, who seemed to want this meeting over as soon as possible nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea and considering the strangeness surrounding the situation. Once you have your lawyer take a look at those and you sign them, just send them back to me. I'll be around the rest of the day, so-" Sharon pulled out a business card and handed it to Rory. "Give me a call if you can sort it out today. My cell number is on there, and just call before you drop by."

"Great, thank you and we'll speak soon." Rory and Logan stood and both shook hands with Sharon before leaving her office.

Logan put her hand on her lower back and gently steered her out of the law firm, they were in the elevator, leaning tiredly against the back wall before either spoke. "So, who are we taking these papers to exactly?" Logan said slightly baffled by Rory's earlier statement. He knew that Rory wasn't as opposed to the high society life as he once thought, but even he thought it odd that Rory would have a lawyer on speed dial.

"Well, I was hoping that Colin would take a look at these. I am not sure if grandpa had a lawyer on standby or if when one was necessary, he'd call one of his friends and considering what just happened I'd like to avoid using grandpa's friends for my legal questions."

"So you want to use one of mine?" Logan said with a smirk

Rory looked at Logan clearly miffed then answered the question. "Yes. We're seeing him in an hour anyway, maybe this was we can have all of this-" Rory gestured vaguely around her clearly agitated. "dealt with by the end of the day."

Logan smiled sympathetically at her, knowing that she was freaking out. Logan pulled her into a hug, holding her close as she shook lightly. "Oh, Ace, it's going to be ok," Logan whispered into her hair.

"It's really not. The trust fund that Trix set up, I knew about it when I was sixteen. She was going to give it to me then but Mom didn't want me to have it and she took it out on Grandma, who yelled right back. Trix wasn't having any of it and said that we were all too immature to handle the amount of money I would be receiving."

Logan glanced at Rory shocked at what she was telling him. Normally when trust funds were threatened it was because the recipient was not behaving in a way that the creator thought was appropriate. It was rare that it was because other family members were acting strange. "Ok, well that explains why you didn't get it at sixteen, but why didn't you get it sometime later?"

"I really don't know, but I think grandma might." Rory sighed and leaned her head against Logan's chest exhausted even though the day wasn't nearly over.  
"Ace, we can cancel the guys so you can rest. We don't need to see them today." Logan said quietly as he rubbed her back, making her relax even more.

"No, I want to see them and they won't be anywhere near as tiring as that was."

"They'll be more!" Logan stated, a little frustrated that Rory wouldn't relax.

"I'll rest on the plane ride to Grandmas."

Logan sighed in resignation, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere. This was partially his fault and he probably should have had the guys meet them in New York once they scheduled the meeting with the lawyer, but it was too late now.

The elevator doors dinged open and they headed out to meet their childish but always entertaining friends.

* * *

**AN: Review if you please! **


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Happy Easter! Here's another chapter for you lovely patient people. This chapter was fighting me for some reason but we made it! I'm hoping I can hammer out a few more chapters in short order, I now have all the time in the world to do this! **

**I hope all you guys are staying safe and healthy. As someone once said, this too shall pass, it may pass like a kidney stone but it will pass!**

**On with the show!**

* * *

In true stooges fashion Finn decided that they should meet at an Irish pub downtown for their meetup. When Logan and Rory got to the pub Finn was well into his fourth scotch while strangely the rest of the group were drinking a variety of non-alcoholic drinks. Before the group could notice their presence Rory tugged on Logan's sleeve making him stop and turn to look at her. "What's up, Ace?"

"I want to surprise them a bit, you go over first and I'll come over in a minute." Rory smiled knowing exactly what would happen but she wanted to raise the stakes a little. Logan just smirked at her and headed over to the table.

"Mate! Can you believe these sad-arses won't have a drink with me!" Finn hollered as Logan came to the table. "I demand you drink!" Finn exclaimed as he put an overfull glass of scotch in front of him.

"No thanks. I'd like to survive this lunch with my brain cells intact." Logan said with a laugh. Finn will never change and that was probably a good thing. Finn pouted then bounded off towards the terrified looking bartender.

"Ok, man I've got to ask, what is going on? Why did you ask us all to meet with you?" Colin spoke as Finn ran off to get more drinks.

"Well, that's the thing. I've got a surprise for you." Logan moved to the side as Rory came over to the table. The occupants were so loud that they were getting a few odd looks from the pubs few occupants.

"Rory!" Steph squealed as she jumped out of her seat and engulfed Rory in a bone-crushing hug. Rory simply laughed at her antics. "I've missed you! Have you guys finally sorted out your stupid love life?"

Rory laughed and allowed herself to be pulled into the booth next to Steph. "I'm glad you're here Rory." Colin said, "Maybe now you can stop this sad sack from moping all over two continents." Colin gestured to Logan, who was sitting next to Rory, who looked offended while Rory just laughed harder.

"I was not moping!" Logan argued.

"You were moping. The only reason it didn't involve all the alcohol in England was that you, stupidly, are a responsible adult."

"Says the lawyer."

Before anyone could say anything else Finn made a grand arrival at their table. "REPORTER GIRL! HAVE I MISSED YOU! Poor Logan just hasn't been the same since our adventures in New Hampshire! Now that you're here could you tell me what happened that night?"

Rory glanced at Logan who looked like he was about to burst and just grinned before returning to Finn. "Finn, since when do you care if you can't remember some alcohol-fueled debauchery?"

"This is true," Finn said with a wicked grin. "Can you believe there aren't any redheads in here? It's an Irish pub, you'd think they'd serve redheads along with my scotchtini!"

"A scotchtini?" Rory said equally amused and concerned.

"A martini with scotch! It's my greatest invention!"

"Of course, it is Finny," Rory said with a chuckle.

"Now, for the first time in many a year the ruling LDB is in the same country, and I would like to know why?" Finn declared in an odd sense of sobriety.

Logan looked at Rory silently asking if he can tell everyone their news. When she nodded with a smile on her face he began telling them what happened.

"Well, since I'm now CEO of HPG I'm now based out of New York so I've officially moved back stateside." This announcement was met with whoops and cheers from the table. Once everyone calmed down Logan was able to continue. "Anyway, I have been making some changes to the company as well as changing things at some of our papers. One of the papers I decided to change things at was the Brooklyn Daily Post."

"Isn't that the paper that your father just bought?" Logan nodded as Colin continued. "I never understood why your father bought that paper unless it was a power move simply because it was a tri-state paper that wasn't an HPG holding, but still it was having trouble turning any type of profit."

"Wait!" Yelped Finn, the rest of the table realizing that he was paying attention to the conversation. "Wasn't that the paper that your crazy ass uncle worked at?"

"That's the one. The biggest change I made was that I got rid of said crazy uncle. The editor in chief knows what he's doing and the content is not bad, but the section that my uncle was in charge of, opinions, was terrible and it was the main cause of the paper's problems."  
"What does your crazy family business have to do with our lovely reporter girl here?" Finn said exasperated.

"I'm getting to it Finn, keep your panties on."

"No promises mate."

Logan rolled his eyes then continued with his story. "I did have to replace my crazy relative since he was editor of the opinions section. A paper can't exist, or at least one of that size without an opinions editor. And Rory is the replacement."

A chorus of congratulations rang out from everyone, knowing that Rory had hit a roadblock in her career and that now she was starting to turn it around.

"Thanks. When Logan called to offer me the position, I decided to meet with the editor in chief before I made a decision. I told him that after the meeting at the paper I wanted to meet with him to talk."  
"Where she gave me what was probably the best surprise of my life." Logan put his arm around Rory and pulled her closer. Rory smiled at him while their friends looked on in slight confusion.

Realizing that the two had forgotten the other's presence Finn interrupted the moment to get to the bottom of the slightly cryptic statement. "Mate! Stop making eyes at the lovely Reporter girl and tell us what the surprise was!"

Logan groaned, while Rory just laughed and turned to the loud Australian to answer his question. "I'm pregnant," Rory said with a grin.

It was oddly quiet at the table which was making Rory and Logan increasingly nervous, Colin, Steph, Robert and even Finn were shocked into silence. Luckily, they could always count on Finn to ease any awkwardness. "You don't waste time, do you mate?" The statement seemed to jerk everyone out of their shock. Colin smacked Finn upside the head while Rory just snickered.

"Hey! You can't damage foreign goods. Plus you weren't saying anything, might as well say what we're all thinking." Finn stopped to down his scotchtini then spoke again. "I'm gonna be an uncle to a little love!"

"Yes Finn, you get to be an uncle, but I put my foot down on you teaching them how to drink," Rory said with a fake glare that wasn't staying in place.

"I've got a question," Steph said. "You never actually said whether you guys were back together or not because if you guys aren't together I'll be so mad even Honour couldn't stop me."

Instead of responding, Logan pulled Rory closer to him and gave her a passionate kiss to the wolf whistles and applause of their exuberant audience. When they finally separated Rory turned so she was facing Stephanie without ever leaving Logan's embrace. "Does that answer your question?"

Stephanie laughed before answering. "Yep, that would do it. But, I'd still like Logan to say it out loud for the more oblivious observers. Or those with a very twisted sense of morals," she added with a pointed look at Finn.

"I do not have a twisted sense of morals; I just can't help that all the American ladies need some down under lovin'!" Finn added with a wink to the waitress walking past.

"Finn, we don't need to hear about all the different ways someone might charge you with harassment," Logan said with a snort at Finn's indignant look. "But if you need me to spell it out for you, yes Rory and I are back together, and I fully intend on marrying her." This statement was met with a wall of celebratory noise.

"To Logan," Finn shouted as he stood with multiple drinks for a toast. "Who's finally pulled his head out of his ass and got his reporter girl back, and to youngest Huntzberger, you're timing is impeccable!"

"Hear, hear!"

The group calmed down a little and everyone congratulated Rory and Logan on the new baby and Rory filled everyone in on what had happened since the last time they saw each other. Rory quickly realized that she was going to have to explain the drama with Lorelai quite a bit because even though she was telling four people at once they all wanted similar explanations for different questions and they were all shocked by Lorelai's reaction.

"Colin I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" Rory asked once it became clear that Colin, Robert and Logan were starting to talk about business.

"Sure, Rory, what's the favour?"

Rory knew that as soon as he saw the papers that would sign all of her grandmother's money over to her she would have to explain exactly how much she was worth and what happened regarding her inheritance. "Could you take a look at this legal paperwork and tell me what you think of it?" Rory handed the stack of papers over the table for him to look at.

"What exactly am I looking at?" Colin said as he shifted through the stack he was handed.

"My inheritance from my great-grandmother." Everyone except Logan looked at Rory shocked.

"I'm sorry, what? Isn't your great-grandmother dead? And has been for a long time?" Colin said confused. It was a big deal when Lorelai the first passed and most of Hartford society knew about it.

"Apparently, she left my inheritance with grandpa with instructions to not give it to me until he died. But the lawyer handling his estate didn't know about it so I didn't get it until another lawyer stumbled across the paperwork."

"Rory, this is over 165 million dollars! They just misplaced 165 million dollars? How'd that happen?"

"The lawyer who handled it, in the beginning, died a few weeks before my grandfather and the one we spoke to about his affairs and how the estate would be divided up, didn't know about it."

"Rory, exactly how much did Richard leave you?"

"He left me just about everything. It totalled to about 250 million dollars."

Colin let out a low whistle. The Gilmore's had fallen a little within the ranks of Hartford society but they had always had money. Richard was a brilliant businessman and he knew how to turn a profit so he wasn't at all shocked by the amount that Rory inherited. "I can't believe I didn't know about this."

"I was a little busy dealing with my family and making sure my grandmother didn't completely fall to pieces to worry about announcing my wealth to the world," Rory said snippily.

"Right," Colin said. He quickly tried to steer the conversation in a different direction and glanced down at the papers in front of him. "Why did you want me to look at these?"

"After the screw up the firm made I wanted to have someone look over any papers before I signed anything."

"That's probably a good idea." Colin read the papers as thoroughly as he could in that circumstance. When he was finished he handed them back to Rory. "Those papers look perfectly fine, I have no problem with you signing them as they're written."

"Thanks, Colin."

"No problem Rory."

Rory was so glad to be with all of her old friends again. She had felt isolated for so long that she had almost forgotten what it was like to be with people who cared about her. She had managed to meet a few people during her years freelancing, but those relationships were always fleeting. This was why she wanted to find a steady job in one place, it was the simple joy of being with the same people every day and being with people who cared about you. She needed the stability that freelancing and being an international correspondent just couldn't offer. She had wanted to see the world, but at the end of the day, she needed a place that she could call home.

She had that now, and she was happy she did.

Not long later Rory glanced at her watch and realized that they had to go. "Logan," she whispered gesturing at her watch. Logan nodded, neither of them realizing that everyone saw their interaction.

"What the hell was that?" Robert exclaimed gesturing at the couple.

"What was what?" Logan said amused at Robert's apparent annoyance.

"You guys just had an entire conversation with barely a look," Robert said.

"C'mon mate. Y'know mother and father have always been able to read each other's minds." Finn exclaimed.

"Yeah, they have, but would you like to share with the rest of the class?" Steph asked with a smirk.

"We're having dinner with my grandma tonight we have to get going if we want to get there on time," Rory explained.

"But Ror," Steph looked at her watch noticing the time. "It doesn't take two and a half hours to get to your grandparent's house. Why do you have to leave now?"

Rory flinched a little at the minor mentioned of her grandfather, Logan noticed and rubbed her arm gently to hopefully relax her. "My grandma moved up to Nantucket, my grandparents always rented a summer house there and she managed to buy out the owners and now lives there year-round. We're going to have dinner with her and tell her about the next generation of Gilmore's."

Everyone stared in shock for a moment before Finn spoke. "Crazy Gilmore girls."

It took a second to process what Finn had said then Rory burst out laughing. She laughed hard and long before calming down enough to talk. "No, you're right Finn. Crazy pretty much runs in our genes," Rory glanced at Logan and grinned. "Sorry bout that MAC, but the next Huntzberger is going to be just as crazy as the rest of us."

Logan just laughed as he pulled her into a side hug, "Don't worry Ace, I always knew our kids would be nutty, I'm excited to find out how nutty they are." Rory smiled up at him before turning back to their friends, "But she's happy for the first time since my grandpa died so we're not complaining."

Logan checked the time and started to pay the bill as Rory finished up her conversation with Steph. "We need to go shopping sometime, hopefully now I can promote you to my level now that you have your own money," Steph said with a conspiratorial grin.

Rory just laughed. "That would be great, Steph. Maybe you can help me decide on what type of car I want to buy while we're at it." Steph let out a loud squeal then hugged Rory. "It's a date!" She yelped when she finally let Rory go.

Rory stood from the table to pull on her jacket after Logan got her attention. "That's great! It's so good to see you guys again and we'll see you soon." With another round of hugs and goodbyes, Logan and Rory headed to the airport.

* * *

Not long later they were sitting on the plane waiting for take-off and Rory was thinking about her grandfather. She hadn't had a real chance to grieve Richard and now that her life was finally settling into place she felt that she now had the chance. Her grandmother had been a wreck after her grandpa died and her mother was in denial at the very least. At the time her own life had been messier then she would have liked to admit, her career and nose-dived and she felt like she was spinning out of control, none of this led to productive time to process what had happened.

Logan looked at Rory and noticed that she had a faraway look on her face, and from what happened today he could understand how she might be a bit distracted. He had a few questions himself that he desperately wanted answers to but he didn't want to overwhelm her, it had been a hell of a day and it was just 5:30 in the afternoon.

"Rory?" Rory turned to look at him when he called her name.

"Yeah?" She sighed, clearly not fully present but not fully lost in her thoughts anymore.

"How are you doing? After everything that happened with the lawyer, we never had a chance to talk about everything and I want to make sure you're ok." Logan grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

Rory was touched by his concern and smiled before responding. "When Grandpa died, Grandma completely fell apart. They were married for over 50 years and then he was suddenly gone. She didn't know how to cope with his death and I made sure that Grandma held it together through the funeral before I ran off to god knows where. I keep thinking that he would've been so upset by how I was living my life for the past few years, and after everything he did for me, I feel like I should've done more."

"Ace, he would've been so proud of you." Rory let out an indignant snort at that. "Oh yeah, so proud, my career barely existed and I was running around pretending to be more then I was, then there's the small fact that I might as well change my name to Hester Prynne and be done with it!"

"First of all, people's career's shift and change all the time, and if you couldn't figure out what to do next that doesn't make you a failure. Second of all, we are not in puritan Massachusetts and no one's going to question you on our child's paternity." Logan gently rubbed Rory's slightly rounded stomach before continuing. "You've travelled the world, your career has straightened out now, you're an editor at a New York paper and we are finally going to have a life together, and I know your grandpa would have been so proud of all that."

Rory smiled a little, happy that she could finally talk to someone a bit who understood just how important her grandpa was to her. She took a deep breath and sighed before speaking. "I'm sad. That how I'm doing."

"You're allowed to be sad. I think that's normal when you cared about a person who died." Rory laid her head on his shoulder and relaxed into his hold. "You did good, kid."

* * *

Half an hour later, they were in the air heading towards Nantucket when Logan remembered another odd part of the day that he had forgotten about until then. Rory's name, or if he was being more specific, Lorelai Leigh Hayden Gilmore's name.

Rory was flipping through back issues of the Daily Post getting a feel for the paper and determining what parts of the opinions section she would need to focus on to improve it. "Look at this!" She exclaimed suddenly. "This article says that he doesn't believe that Republicans should not be expelled from politics for any reason, while Democrats shouldn't be in politics at all because 'it'll give the people hope'!" Rory ended with a shriek. "And there are parts of old issues where the head opinion piece should have been but it's not there. When it's not missing and ignoring the obvious content issues, it's filled with spelling and grammatical errors. It's hardly readable!" Rory was shaking her head as she made a few jot notes on her pad of paper, "I can't believe he was getting away with this." She quietly seethed about how her predecessor had made such a mockery of journalism.

Logan couldn't help but feel glad at her ramble. This was the Rory Gilmore that he knew and loved. She seemed more like herself angry at the incompetent editor and how someone would care so little about there job, then she had the entire previous two years. Knowing that she was in a better headspace, even temporarily, gave him the resolve to ask one last burning question.

"Hey, Ace?"

"Yeah?" Rory muttered distractedly. Logan reached over and pried the newspaper out of her hands so he could have her full attention. "Hey! I was reading that!"

Logan chuckled at her yelp, it was clear she wasn't paying any real attention to him earlier. "Welcome back. I had a question for you that you were bent on ignoring."

"Did you have to take away my paper though?" Rory said with a pout. Logan just made a face in a 'are you kidding' expression. Rory's face just softened before speaking, "What was the question?"

"I didn't know you had Hayden in your name?"

Rory sighed as she tried to come up with what to say. "I was never sure what to think about that. I didn't know I had my dad's name in any way until I needed my birth certificate to get my licence and it made me start to question things with my dad. Did my grandparents force my mom to include his name? Or did my mom put Hayden in there to convince my dad to stick around? Did my dad want his name in there because he wanted me, despite everything else? If he did why was he never around?" Rory realized that she was starting to spin out a bit and took a few deep breaths to try and calm down a little. "Mom never gave me a straight answer to why his name is there, and I never asked my dad. I was tied to a family that ignored me and it made me feel like I belonged to someone who didn't want me anymore." Rory's voice got quiet as she trailed off as she tried to gather herself.

"Oh Ace, never think that no one wants you. I want you. I'll always want you, and our family."

"I want to believe that, I really do, but you really can't promise that. Things change, people change their minds about what they want." Rory didn't say it to be mean, she had learned that people can say that they'll always be around but then will change their minds when things don't go the way they want or expect.

"Rory, I know a lot has happened since we first met but," Logan grabbed both of Rory's hands to make sure that she was listening to him. "I promise I will always stand by you. I'm all in and I will do anything to prove that to you." Logan suddenly remembered an odd piece of information from a few years ago. Honour and Josh were having problems so they ended up going to therapy. It seemed to help and they weren't having the issues they were having before. Considering the conversation, they were having he didn't see the harm in suggesting it.

"Ace, would you want to go to couples counselling? I haven't given you a lot of reasons to trust me in the past few years and I want to prove to you that you can count on me." Rory looked at Logan stunned that he would suggest something that is still considered taboo in high society, just to make her feel better. "Honour and Josh went a few years ago and it really helped them. We want to just pick up where we left off, but we can't, too much has happened. I want us to have the best chance at forever and I think clearing the air will help."

When Logan finished his speech, Rory was stunned but once she really thought about it, it made sense. He was right, a lot had happened, and they couldn't pick up where they left off, no matter how much they want to. Dealing with their issues now would give them the best shot for this to last long term. "Honestly, I think it would be a good idea."

Logan pulled Rory close and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I'll make some calls, ok?"

Rory nodded her head in agreement before speaking. "Thank you, Logan."

"You're welcome, but I'd do anything for you, Rory."

They spent the rest of the plane ride discussing the Daily Post and how hopefully it could still be pulled back from the brink of extinction.

* * *

"I'm ringing the bell."

"No, don't. I'm not ready yet. How can you be so calm?"

"Probably because she's not my grandmother. Also, I'm hungry and cold." Rory was pacing up and down the driveway of Emily Gilmore's Nantucket house trying to work up the courage to go inside, Logan was being no help and enjoying my misery. "If we stay out here much longer she's going to come and get us. There's no way she didn't notice our car pull up."

Rory took a deep breath and marched over to where Logan was standing with a determined look on her face. "Ok, ring the bell."

"Thank god. I was getting ready to forage for food in the garden." Logan reached over to ring the bell before Rory stopped him.

"No, wait." Logan leaned that little bit further and rung the bell. "I should leave you out here for that."

"Then you'd have to explain to Emily why I'll be spending the night on her front steps." Before Rory could respond the door swung open to reveal Emily.

"Rory, darling! It's so good to see you!" Emily led the two of them in the house, it wasn't until they were standing in the foyer that she noticed Logan. "Logan! It is so good to see you again. Rory told me she was bringing a guest, but she didn't tell me it was you. Are you two back together?" Emily was all bout jumping up and down at the possibility and Rory knew that she was already planning their wedding.

"Grandma, can we maybe settle in a little before we tell you the great tale. I promise I will tell you everything, but it's been quite the day and honestly, I feel a little gross."

"Of course, but I do expect you to tell me why you insisted on coming to dinner then staying one night when you'll be here for Christmas in 10 days. It is a very long drive just for dinner."

"Emily, you will know everything, but it has been a long day, we'll be down in half an hour."

"Alright, I will tell Berta to set up drinks in the sunroom. I will see you in half an hour." Emily left the two alone to settle into the room, and in Rory's case lie down for a bit.

Half an hour later drinks were served, and they were sitting in the sunroom as Berta brought out some small snacks.

"Thank you, Berta." When Berta left Emily turned her focus on the couple sitting across from her. "Alright, I have been patient now I need you to tell me what is going on," Emily said quite calmly considering the situation.

"Ok, grandma. The story is only going to make sense if I tell the whole story, so bear with me." Logan squeezed her hand in support as Rory began the story. "Two years ago, when I was in Hamburg for the writers' conference I ran into Logan. We hadn't seen each other since my graduation and it was awkward, to say the least." Rory took a deep breath before continuing. "Once we got past the awkwardness it was nice to be together again and we," Rory paused and looked at Logan not sure how to explain to her grandmother that she and Logan were having an affair. Lucky for her Logan took over.

"We briefly got back together."

Rory's eyes shot up at that, but it was as close as they were going to get. "We didn't want to get back together more permanently but every time we saw each other we acted like a couple." Rory cringed a little at the phrasing but she was at a loss in this situation.

Emily looked back and forth between the two before speaking. "You two were having an affair."

"Emily-"

"Grandma-"

Emily quieted them both with a look before speaking. "I may be an old woman but I'm not stupid. You know, when your grandfather and I first met he was engaged to Pennilyn Lott. He ended up leaving her for me."

"Grandma!"

"Don't 'Grandma' me. I had my wild moments when I was younger. I do not condone affairs, but I know that they happen."

Rory scoffed in disbelief before continuing. "Anyway, about three months ago I wanted to end things but Logan wanted to see me one last time. I'm 13 weeks pregnant."

Emily was quiet for a minute before she spoke. "Oh, darling. Are you ok? I know that things have been tough for you lately."

Rory sat stunned for a minute as tears welled up in her eyes. "Rory, what's the matter?"

"I was just worried you were going to be angry with me. I thought you were going to see me as repeating mom's mistakes."

"Rory, there is a big difference between being a parent at sixteen and at thirty-two. You have a college degree, your mother had just started junior year in high school." Rory sighed in relaxation and slumped against Logan in relief. "I do have a question that will remind you of my initial reaction to finding out about you." Rory knew where this was going, "What are you two planning to do? Since you showed up here together you must have some type of plan."

"Logan and I are back together. We don't want to dive into marriage, but we do know that we love each other and want to give us a real shot."

At this point, Logan chimed in, "I want to be a father to my children, the type of father I didn't have growing up, and I want to be with Rory more than anything."

"Don't you think that getting married would be the best way to be there for your child, children need both of their parents and getting married provides certain stability that can't be matched."

"Grandma, I understand where you're coming from, but we can't pick up where we left off and when we get married, we want it to be because we want to, not because we feel pressured."

"When you get married?" Rory could hear the hope in her grandma's voice and wasn't surprised that she picked up on that phrasing.

"Yes, when. We're going to get married but not right away."

Rory hadn't seen her grandma look that pleased since she announced she was going to Yale. "That's splendid! Do you think it'll be before the baby's born?"

"Maybe, we don't want to rush anything this time around but, you never know."

Emily pulled Rory into a hug right when Berta came in to announce dinner was ready. They were digging into dinner when Emily abruptly changed the subject. "Your grandfather always hoped he'd get to see the next generation of Gilmore's come into the world. He'd already started planning for it, he was putting money away for their trust fund, not a lot and it got absorbed into the estate when he died but he would have been so proud of you Rory. You're succeeding in your career, you're in a more solid relationship then your mother ever had, and there's going to be another Gilmore. It's everything he ever wanted for you."

Rory smiled a watery smile, then said, "You mean that?" Through her tears.

"I promise you; he would've been proud. He always hoped you and Logan would find your way back to each other and you did." Rory smiled at Logan thinking that maybe her grandpa would've been pleased with how she was living her life after all. "Now, tell me all about this new job of yours." Rory perked right up and launched into a diatribe about her new position and how thrilled she was to be an editor at a New York paper.

* * *

**AN: We're living in crazy times right now and all we can do is try and help each other out (from 6 ft away) and stay put. Read fanfiction and binge watch on Netflix! Don't forget to breathe at some point! **

**Love all you guys and I'm glad people are taking time to read this crazy story I dreamed up.**

**Review if you please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: It's a quarantine miracle! Another chapter before the seasons changed! Huzzah! **

**On with the show**

* * *

The next morning, Logan was trying to get some work done so Emily and Rory were able to have some time alone.

"Rory, you gave me the highlights of what's been going on, now I want to know everything that's happened since I last saw you. Which must have been a lot?"

"Well, two weeks ago, Logan called me out of the blue and offered me a job. That was one of the stranger job offers I've ever gotten but I'm so glad that it did."

"I'm sure. Mitchum was an ass hole and I think that Logan might be glad that he's gone. It'll give him a chance to shine."

"You're absolutely right. Well, after I decided I'd take the job, I bought a condo in Brooklyn."

"Brooklyn! Why not Manhattan?"

"Living in Brooklyn will make my life so much easier considering I work for the _Brooklyn_ Daily Post. It's a very nice place, in a nice area, I think you'd like it, Grandma."

Emily sighed, if she had learned anything in her life was not to push when it wasn't necessary. "I trust you but, I want to come and see the place."

"You will, and your tea set has pride of place."

Emily grinned, pleased that Rory hadn't rejected the heirloom out of hand. "Oh Rory, I'm glad that you like it."

"It's gorgeous Grandma. I'm a little hesitant to use it though."

"It's a well-loved pot, use it, that's what it's for!"

Rory laughed a little at her grandmas' exuberance. "I will. I always knew that this would be complicated, but I didn't realize how bad it could be. There are so many people against Logan and me, and it makes me wonder if it's all worth it."

"I am firmly on your side here, and I can't say for Logan's family but if I had to guess, his odd friends are as well. Who is so against you and Logan?

"Mom and I had a fight when I moved into my new apartment. She got upset when she found out how much I paid for the apartment, and she said that I was throwing my life away for a boy. She was pretty insistent I go back to Stars Hollow and when I put my foot down and said no, she stormed out and we haven't spoken since."

Emily sighed, not at all surprised at Lorelai's reaction, and judging from the way Rory told the story, she wasn't surprised either. "Your mother is very stubborn, and it's often her way or no way. You can't let her disapproval control your life, she didn't and she's happier for it."

"I don't want to break ties with mom, even after everything, she's still my mom."

"Well, try and talk to her, and hopefully she'll come around."

Rory nodded and hoped that her grandma was right. "Logan and I decided to do a lap and tell everyone important in one weekend. So, we stopped by the Huntzberger's for dinner on Friday to tell them."

Emily almost snorted before speaking. "How'd that go?"

Once Rory stopped laughing at hearing her grandmother snort she spoke. "Well, we never got dinner. Honour was thrilled and Shira was as hospitable as always."

"I bet. What did she say?"

Rory hesitated a moment, not wanting to bring the wrath of Emily Gilmore down on anyone but Emily pinned her with a withering glare and Rory started babbling. "She said that I didn't come from proper stock, I would tarnish his reputation and that I was a whore."

"That pompous bitch." Rory startled at her grandmother's choice of words. "Oh, don't look at me like that I know how to curse. How could she say that you were from lesser stock, I'd bet that your farmer boyfriend was bluer blood then she was."

"Wait, Dean?"

"That woman was a stripper in no-where Arkansas when she got pregnant with Honour. She has no right to say those things to you."

"Grandma, it doesn't matter. Logan put her in her place and threatened to cut her off and throw her out of the house if she didn't behave. She was quiet after that."

Emily seemed to nod in approval and relax some. "You've got a good one, even your grandfather didn't stand up to his mother for me."

"He married you anyway, and he loved you so much."

"I know, but it would've been nice for him to stand up for me."

"Speaking of Gran, an odd thing happened."

"What did the old bat do now?"

"Well, she apparently left me everything she had when she died."

"What?" Emily yelped shocked. "How did I not know about this?"

"I don't know. I was supposed to get it when I got married but when grandpa died it all got transferred to me."

"I can't believe it. When did you find out?"

"We met with the lawyer yesterday and she informed us of how much I was left. They called me Friday to ask for a meeting about an inheritance, so I knew I was left something, I just didn't know how much until yesterday."

Emily stared at Rory for a minute before composing herself enough to ask another question. "How much were you left?"

"It came to 165 million dollars, which included the trust fund. She also left me her English house."

Emily resembled a codfish, the way her mouth was hanging open in shock. "It's starting to make some sense now."

"What?"

"When your grandfather and I would go to Europe and he would always say that he had business to attend to in England. I couldn't figure out what type of business and he never told me, but now that I know about the house, he must have been going to check on the house and make sure it was in proper order." Emily thought about their trips to Europe, realizing that her theory made sense. The business in England didn't start until after Trix had died. Suddenly another thought occurred to her. "You only found out about this yesterday?"

"Yes. Now, before I explain that you have to promise not to overreact." Emily groaned a little then nodded in agreement. "From what I understand, Trix's estate got filed differently from grandpa's so when it came time to deal with this it got lost until someone found it by accident. The lawyer that grandpa set up his will with at first, died less than two weeks before grandpa so it was handled by someone who didn't know about Trix's estate."

"How could they be so incompetent! The Gilmore's have been clients of that firm for over 40 years, how could they treat us this way!"

Rory cut off Emily's rant before she could start plotting their demise. "Grandma, the lawyer who made the error has retired and is no longer practicing. The lawyer who fixed it was trying to repair an old man's mistake and it's not their fault. Also, I gave them an Emily Gilmore style scolding, you would have been proud. So, I think we're done."

Oddly enough, right at that moment, Berta appeared with a soup that seemed to soothe Emily just by the smell. "Thank you, Berta." Emily took a sip then looked at Rory. "You are right. The person at fault can't be punished and it's hardly the new person's fault." Emily looked at Rory and something occurred to her, they were living in a new world and women could do more than they could in her days. Rory was the head of the family now and she seemed to be filling the enormous shoes extremely well.

"You handled that very well, and I'm proud of you Rory." Rory beamed at the compliment. "But I will be mad at Trix until the day I die."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, Grandma."

After the exhausting conversation, Emily and Rory settled in for some tea and Berta's soup, which hit the spot in the cold Nantucket winter.

* * *

Rory, Emily and eventually Logan had spent the early part of the day catching up and retelling memorable stories of Richard, which turned out to be cathartic for Rory. When it finally came time for them to say goodbye, the other branch of Gilmore's were hesitant to be parted.

"It was so good to see you, Rory. I do wish I could spend more time with you."

"Well, now that things have calmed down a little, hopefully, we can spend more time together."

"That would be wonderful. Now, don't forget, just because you were just here doesn't mean you can skip Christmas with me."

"Never, we'll be here Grandma."

"Alright." Emily turned her attention to Logan. "I expect you to take good care of my granddaughter."

"I wouldn't do anything less. I am so sorry that I didn't make it to Richard's funeral."

An absent look briefly crossed Emily's face at the mention of her husband's funeral, but quickly righted herself, Emily: the ever-ready hostess, "I understand, London is a little out of the way to justify coming to a distant colleagues funeral. Your parents were there so the Huntzberger's were represented."

"Oh no, did they pretend to behave, at least?"

"Honour was appropriately upset and gave me a lovely flower arrangement."

"At least someone knows how to behave," Logan said.

"Your sister is just lovely, don't worry about her." Emily smiled then started to shoo them down the driveway. "Now, hurry along, don't worry about an old lady like me, I'll be fine."

After another round of hugs and Goodbye's Logan and Rory left, heading to catch their plane to Boston.

* * *

Two hours later Logan and Rory pulled up to Christopher's house in Boston. Rory looked up at the house unnerved and fiddling with her coffee cup because no matter how pregnant she was some moments required coffee.

"Ace, you've got to calm down, we aren't walking into the dragon's den here."

"At least I could properly prepare for that. I've already done that with Grandpa in college, that would be easy, present concept, explain uses, and charm the judges. I have no idea what is going to happen with this!"

"You're right, we don't know what is going to happen with this, but I do know that Chris loves you, and I don't think he'll be too upset."

"He's got a funny way of showing it."

"Yeah, well, not everyone can be 'Parent-of-the-year'. It'll be fine."

Rory got out of the car after a little more cajoling from Logan, as they made their way up to the front door Logan suddenly made an indignant snort. "What was that?"

"That, was me realizing that we've switched places. I am convincing you that your family won't take your head off when we sit down for a meal together."

"Haha, laugh it up chuckles. Your family is still something right out of The Stepford Wives."

"We are in the right state, maybe I should have mom checked for robot parts." Logan rang the bell before Rory could stall anymore, thinking they were likely going to be trading off like this in some fashion for a good chunk of their lives.

"You're mean."

"You love me."

The door swung open to reveal a thirteen year-old-girl that Logan didn't recognize.

"Rory!" The smaller girl hugged Rory before pulling her into the house.

"Hi, Gigi! How are you?" The girls started talking as they made their way into the house and took off their jackets. Logan couldn't help but think that Rory's fast-talking tendencies didn't just come from the Gilmore's.

"Good! I can't wait to start high school next year! Dad said I'm going to Middlesex in the fall and I can't wait!"

"I'm surprised you aren't going to Andover, Dad always said that he had the best time there."

"It's further away, plus the history of Middlesex is amazing, plus Bret Stephans and Elizabeth Mayhew both went there."

"Wow! That's amazing."

"It is! I'm glad I talked dad out of sending me to Windsor, though. Who'd want to go to an all-girls school?" Gigi said in horror.

Rory laughed at the dramatic look on her sister's face. "Not you, I take it?"

"No! Oh, guess what?"

"What?"

"Grandma is here too! Maybe we can gang up on dad and make him do that panicking talking thing he does when he gets confused."

"We'll see." Logan noticed that Rory became a lot less perky at the mention of her other grandma, but before anything could be said Gigi headed into the living room leaving them no choice but to follow. "Oh my god! I am so sorry Logan. I didn't know she was going to be here!"

"It's ok, Ace. We can't keep the Hayden's waiting." Logan could tell that Rory was feeling anxious, but with no time to talk her down, he put a hand on her back and led her through the door that Gigi had disappeared through.

In the living room, Gigi had sat down next to Francine and was happily talking away about Christmas break and the gifts she was excited to get.

"Hey, kiddo!" Chris had come over and wrapped Rory in a hug. "Logan," The two shook hands once Chris got over his shock of him being there. "I haven't seen you in a long time, it's good to see you again."

"You too Chris. Thanks for having us over."

"Anytime. I wish I could see Rory more often. I always thought you and Rory were good together, and despite what Lorelai might think, I like you and hope you stick around."

"That's the plan."

"Still using your interesting yardstick?"

"Oh c'mon, there are few people I can properly swap war stories with and he's got better ones than me."

"Oh god. Can we sit down, we cannot leave your mother waiting?" Rory said to Chris.

Once everyone was settled Rory began speaking with Francine. "Hello, Mrs. Hayden."

"Hello, Rory," Francine said softly.

"Hello Grandmother" Before Rory could say anything else, she turned to Logan to introduce herself. "Hello, I believe we've come across each other, but have never formally met. I'm Francine Hayden, Rory's grandmother."

"We probably have come across each other somewhere, this is Hartford after all. Logan Huntzberger." Logan had turned on the charm immediately and of course, Francine took a liking to him.

"How exactly are you involved in our family get together? I assume you know Rory, but I thought this was going to be family only."

"Grandmother, Logan is my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend? Aren't you a little old to have a boyfriend?"

Logan chimed in before Rory could step in with a snarky comment. "I plan to upgrade my potion soon." Logan stage whispered, visibly relaxing Francine which calmed Rory down.

"Did you say your name was Huntzberger? Your father was Mitchum Huntzberger, yes."

"Yes," Logan said a little apprehensively. Occasionally, especially now that he had died, once people realize Logan's connection to Mitchum they will take their grievances out on him.

"I hope you don't mind me saying, your father was a piece of work." Rory's mouth dropped open in shock as Logan just laughed.

"I completely agree. That man was trying to take over the world and nearly destroyed the family trying to do so, and he nearly ran the business into the ground because he was too stubborn to let someone else take over."

"Straub was the same way, but he passed before any more damage could be done." Francine looked at Rory sensing her opening she took it. "Rory I believe I owe you an apology."

"Oh no, that's ok. It doesn't matter."

"No, it does. My husband and I treated you horribly and that should not have happened. We were your grandparents and should not have treated you like you were some horrid stain on our life, which couldn't be further from the truth. We are actually quite proud of you Rory. You see, Straub had plans for your father and when things didn't go his way, he would become angry and hostile, and your existence through the largest wrench imaginable into the dynastic plan." The use of that last phrase made Rory and Logan chuckle; Francine just looked at them baffled but continued unphased. "When your father refused to go to Princeton, Straub assumed it was because of you and your mother, and it was the same when he was evasive about his business dealings and where he was spending his time. This continued for about two years after the disastrous dinner with you. It was then that Chris informed us that he had a good job and was starting to be successful, and it was all because of this woman named Sherry who made him straighten up. It wasn't until he informed us that he had bought a house in Boston and was moving in with Sherry that we realized we had likely jumped to inaccurate conclusions. We made a few calls and did some research and discovered that Chris hadn't been with you and your mother in your small town for all those years. That was when we fully realized that we were taking our anger out on the wrong person." Francine reached over and took a sip of her wine before continuing. "By the time we had discovered our error you were about in your senior year of high school and we felt to much time had passed since our horrible initial meeting. By then we honestly didn't know if you ever wanted to see us again, and after everything, we could see why you wouldn't, so we watched from afar. Straub spoke to your Grandpa and he sent us copies of every piece of information he had on you, old photos, your transcripts and your articles from your school papers. He kept us abreast of everything that you were doing and what was going on in your life. We wanted to make sure you were alright."

After a few moments of stunned silence, a slightly teary Rory spoke up. "You kept tabs on me all those years? It always seemed like you hated me."  
"It's horrible that you thought your own family could hate you at all. I will forever be sorry that we treated you so horribly and never made you feel like you were apart of the Hayden family, and considering your joy ride with the yacht I think there is a more Hayden in you then you like to think." Rory let out a bark of laughter, considering the stories she heard about her father's misspent youth, she's surprised it didn't occur to anyone earlier. "I know that we can probably never fully repair what we broke, and we know that too much time has passed but I hope that this will give you some tangible proof that we do care about you, Rory." Francine handed Rory two envelopes and Rory cautiously opened the first, not sure what was going to pop out at her, what she found startled her more then she could guess.

_Rory,_

_The first and last time we interacted was not a pleasant one and that is one of my deepest regrets. I took my anger at your father out on you and I should not have done that. As you may know, I was not an easy man to be related to, your father might even say that it was lucky that we never saw each other because you were kept from the wrath that he was subjected too. I wish I had known you though. It wasn't until it was too late that I realized the grievous error we made._

_I always believed your father followed you and your mother to your town, and that was why he dismissed all of my hopes for him, that was why I said those horrible things to you, things I wish I could take back but I can't. _

_I've taken a hard look at my life in the past few weeks and one of my biggest regrets is that I didn't get the chance to witness what a wonderful young woman you have become._

_I would like to leave you with one last piece of advice, us Hayden's have a character flaw that you should be aware of, we don't take failure well and when we fail or things don't go our way we tend to fly off the handle and do remarkably stupid things. Personally, when I was rejected from Harvard Law I went into a rage and put a rock through the Dean of Admissions office window. That cost a pretty penny to clean up, in every way you can imagine. So, watch out for that, Rory._

_Though you might not believe it, you are a Hayden as well, you are a part of this family and I hope you don't forget it or reject it. If you do, I'll understand but I sincerely hope you don't. _

_Yours,_

_Straub Hayden_

_(Grandfather) _

Rory sat there gobsmacked by the contents of the letter. She had honestly believed that Straub Hayden hated her guts. Hate wasn't even a strong enough word for what she thought he felt towards her, loath, despise and abhor seemed more fitting. But, according to the letter in her hands, he didn't hate her. He may not have felt the unconditional love she got from others but he did care about her and that was shocking. Once she got over the shock enough to digest the entire letter she noted the date it was written.

"January 15th, 2004," Rory stated baffled.

"He wrote that letter three days before he died. Your father had gone to visit you at school and he realized that he wasn't going to have a chance to say what he felt like he needed to say in person, so he wrote you that."

Rory sat silent for a bit before a random thought tumbled out of her mouth. "Grandfather put a rock through the Dean of Admission's window? At Harvard?"

Francine let out a laugh at the absurdity of that statement. "He did. His father donated a concert hall to make the scandal go away."

"He really cared about me? You both do?" Rory was so stunned by the revelation that she was having a difficult time constructing a proper sentence.

"He wasn't one to display his feelings openly, but he knew that he had done wrong by you and that he needed to apologize. He cared in his own way and he hoped that you'd understand that he never really hated you and that you are as much a Hayden as you are a Gilmore."

"I am starting to understand that."

"As a Hayden, you are entitled to certain luxuries that all Hayden's got. You were missed for a long time but we hope the quality outweighs the delay." Francine gestured to the other envelope, which Rory opened completely numbed by the odd turn of events.

Inside she found paperwork she recognized but was having a hard time processing their existence. It was a trust fund, set up for her by Straub and Francine Hayden containing five million dollars.

"Grandmother this isn't necessary." Rory protest once she finally found her voice.

"This is something you should have had from the start and you didn't have it out of misguided anger. We are just correcting our mistake; besides, this is legally your money so you can't refuse it."

"But, it's five million dollars. That has to be too much."

"Rory, Gigi has a similar trust fund. I keep adding to it but by the time she has access to it, the contents will be the same as yours."

"Well, thank you, Grandmother. Truly."

"Scrumptious!" Gigi added suddenly, making Rory laugh.

"I see that some of Lorelai stuck," Logan said with a chuckle.

"She never could resist a movie about daydreams and candy," Chris said fondly.

"That movie terrified me, but that song stuck." Gigi helpfully added.

"That movie scared me too, but I was the only person a Chilton who could sing that soundtrack. It's a great way to sort out the real movie watchers from the posers." Rory added.

"If they don't get the reference-" Gigi asked, understanding what Rory was getting at.

"Run, run far away," Rory said with a smile, feeling like she was imparting some important wisdom.

"Got it," Gigi answered with a giggle. Francine smiled fondly while Chris watched the scene almost sadly. He felt like his daughters had missed out on something precious because of his guilt surrounding Rory's childhood.

"Your welcome, Rory. I do hope that we can get to know each other now." Francine said, bringing the conversation back to the original topic.

"I think that can be arranged," Rory said with a happy smile.

The group lapsed into a comfortable conversation for a bit before Chris got antsy. "Kiddo, you haven't called for us to have dinner like this in years. I need to know, what's going on?!" Chris said in confusion.

Rory glanced at Logan before speaking and at his encouraging smile, decided now was as good a time as any to tell them all. She had no idea how her Grandmother was going to take the news considering how her existence came to be but she figured she'd cross that bridge when they got to it. "Well, I'm pregnant, Logan and I are having a baby."

There was no reaction for a few moments which made Rory increasingly nervous. Finally, Chris broke the silence. "Wow, um, congratulations. Dear Lord, I'm going to be a grandpa." Rory snorted at Chris's obvious statement.

"That's how the generational thing works I believe."

It was Gigi that responded with the type of excitement that Rory was secretly hoping for. "Cool! I hope it's a girl! I've always wanted a sister. I can dress her up like a doll and teach her how to do a proper movie night. I know that she wouldn't be my actual sister but it would still be neat. Do you think I could babysit? I am old enough you know."

Rory couldn't help but be pleased with her sister's reaction. "When they get a little older I think that would be great. When they're little they need to be with me most of the time but you can come to visit us in New York, and since you are my sister you are going to be an aunt. Would you like to be Auntie Gigi?"

"That would be awesome! Thanks, Rory." Gigi rushed over and gave Rory a hard squeeze.

Rory laughed at Gigi's excitement. "You're welcome, Gigi."

Chris decided that it would be a good moment to hug Rory. "Congratulations kiddo. I'm so happy for you."

Chris turned his attention to Logan and shook his hand. "Congratulations, but if you don't look after her, I will hurt you," Chris said trying to be intimidating but not quite pulling it off.

"I won't hurt her." Logan pulled Rory closer, glad that he could show the world just how much he cared for her.

Rory smiled then looked at Francine apprehensively. "Grandmother? Do you have anything to add?"

Francine glanced around the room, knowing that she would have to tread carefully with her next statement. "What are you two planning to do?" Francine said in a concerned yet demanding tone.

Rory sighed, not overly surprised by the question but frustrated that she was going to have to explain this again. "We plan on having this baby, giving it a happy home and spending our lives together," Rory said bluntly. She had had enough pandering to the conservative social set who couldn't seem to wrap their heads around not having a scandalous pregnancy.

"So, you and Logan are getting married?" Francine pushed.

"Someday. When we are ready we will get married but we don't want to get married because I'm pregnant and before we are ready. We want a long and happy life together and that won't happen if we rush it." Rory proclaimed and stared down her grandmother. Rory felt that she had spent so much of her time playing peacemaker and doing things in order to make everyone else happy, and she had enough. She wasn't budging on this and no matter what her grandmother said, she was holding firm.

Francine examined Rory and suddenly realized that this wasn't the same girl she met all those years ago. That girl was nervous and didn't know where she belonged in the world. This woman was confident and sure of herself in a way that Francine knew she wasn't always. "That sounds like a good plan, very sensible."

"Seriously?" Rory said stunned.

"Yes. I want the best for you, and I want you to be happy."

"Thank you, Grandmother."

Not long later the group was sitting down to an early dinner since Rory and Logan had to be back to New York that night. They had talked about Gigi's school and Chris's work and Francine was trying to get to know Rory a little. "So, Rory, the last I heard you were a freelance journalist, are you still doing that?"

"No, actually I just accepted a new job as an editor at the Brooklyn Daily Post, a newspaper in New York City."

"Congratulations," Francine said politely.

"Kiddo, are you moving?" Chris chimed in.

"I already moved actually I was offered the job a week ago and I managed to find a fantastic apartment that was available immediately, so I moved Thursday. It's a great place in Brooklyn."

"Wow. Finally leaving the Hollow permanently, huh? How'd Lorelai take that?" Chris asked.

"Like a root canal. This is a major boost for my career, and she'll come around. I hope."

"Rory, why'd you give up freelancing?" Francine asked, genuinely curious.

"I liked freelancing for a while. I got to go to all these different places and write on whatever I wanted, but I'm a homebody who likes routine, and freelancing didn't allow me to have the type stability that I thrive in."

"So, what made you decide to be an editor at a paper in New York? That had to be a big decision since you ended up moving to a different state, and right now couldn't have been the best time for it."

"Honestly I don't know if I would have taken the job if things hadn't been playing out the way they were. My freelancing opportunities had all but vanished and I was living back home with my mom. I then found out about the baby and realized that something needed to change, and then Logan called."

All the eyes in the room shifted to Logan and he picked the story up where Rory had left off. "When my dad died, I became CEO of HPG, just before he died, he had gained a new acquisition, the Brooklyn Daily Post. While going over the specifics I realized that one of their sections was hemorrhaging money and it was because of their editor. He was overpaid, ineffectual and out of touch, I knew that I was going to have to replace him quickly, I asked Rory if she wanted the job and luckily, she accepted. Saving me from embarrassment and financial ruin."

"I did not save you from financial ruin."

"I'm half convinced Mitchum died in the middle of the acquisition just to see how badly I'd screw it up. At the very least you saved me from being haunted."

"I'd take Casper or Peeves over Mitchum the ghost any day."

As Logan and Rory slipped into an odd argument about Harry Potter of all things, Francine couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of her. She could tell that the pair really loved each other and that they would be happy for a long time. They reminded her of Richard and Emily when they were younger, and that thought sparked hope for them. They all settled in and enjoyed the rest of their time together.

* * *

Two hours later Logan and Rory were preparing to leave, though all were hesitant to part. Rory and Francine had started to break through there barrier and had been getting along very well. Logan and Chris had started a conversation about business, to everybody's shock. The once reckless trust fund brats were having a conversation about profits and acquisitions. Gigi had just enjoyed getting to spend some time with her older sister and had been enthralled by Rory's tails of travelling while freelancing.

"Goodbye Rory. It was nice to finally get to know you, and your wonderful fiancé." Rory rolled her eyes when Francine referred to Logan as her fiancé. Once Rory had pointed out that they did want to get married at some point Francine had decided that was close enough. Rory decided not to argue with her on it because she wasn't entirely wrong and that wasn't a hill she was willing to die on.

"I'm glad we were able to spend some time together, Grandmother."

"I will see you soon, both of you." Rory simply smiled and leaned in for another hug, realizing that she now had two Emily Gilmore's in her life.

"You will. We will come up for dinner more regularly."

"I'll see you in the new year then. Goodbye, Rory." Francine gave Rory one last hug then swooped away leaving Rory staring after her with a mild headache.

"Hey, kiddo," Chris smirked at her once Rory was able to refocus on him.

"I've been Gilmored by a Hayden!" Rory exclaimed making both Chris and Logan chuckle.

"Yeah, that happens, but at least you haven't been roped into weekly dinners," Chris said hopefully.

"I think that would have happened if there weren't over 200 miles between us."

Chris just smiled because he knew she was right, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. "It was good to see you, and despite my mom's odd way of asking it, it would be good to see you more regularly."

"I know, I'm sorry that things have gotten so strange between us."

"I don't blame you, it was my fault. I was the adult and I should have been more involved in your life, no matter how old you were."

"Well maybe you can be more involved now."

"I'd like that. I'm excited to be a Grandpa, I know I didn't react great but I'm really thrilled."

"Hey, you reacted better than mom."

"Do I want to know?" Chris said nervously.

"There was some yelling, she said I was ruining my life and that I was supposed to have more than her. Which was ridiculous considering that when I got a well-paying job and a real place to live, that wasn't a potting shed, she flipped out." Chris looked panicked at the insinuation that Rory made.

"What potting shed?" Chris's voice hit a weirdly high octave at the question.

"When mom and I first moved to Stars Hollow we lived in a potting shed behind the Independence Inn," Rory said, it dawned on her, as Chris' face morphed into one of anger and confusion, that Chris didn't have any idea what she was talking about. "You didn't know."

"No, I didn't."

"Can I come back in; we need to talk."

Chris nodded and led them both back into the living, to have a conversation that was long overdue and Chris assumed would leave him feeling worse than he already felt about Rory's childhood.

* * *

**AN: Ten points to whoever guesses the movie Gigi is referencing!**

**Stay safe everyone.**

**Review if you please!**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: So, this chapter was not supposed to exist but then I had a spark of inspiration and hammered this out in a few hours. (Yay for quarantine making it so I have no good reason to do anything other than to write.) **

**I've always had some opinions about the fact that they lived in a potting shed for a few years in Connecticut and that Lorelai was so focused on what she wanted or needed that she was putting her, at that point, young daughter in a potentially unsafe situation. I also found it strange that no one did anything about it. Anyway, so this was my way of dealing with the situation. **

**On with the show!**

* * *

Chris and Rory were staring at each other as neither knew exactly where to start. Eventually, Chris spoke. "So, we were talking about a potting shed?"

"Right," Rory rubbed her hands together awkwardly for a minute, in an action that Logan hadn't seen since they first met. "Well, I was a baby when most of this happened so I don't know how it exactly happened, you understand that right?" Rory was on the verge of a nervous babble and that made Logan oddly pleased. She hadn't done that in a long time, and her nervous babbles were a part of what made her Rory. He was starting to realize that her babbles were often related to Lorelai, which concerned him. He was brought out of his thoughts when Rory started speaking.

"All of this I got from mom, then it's what I remember from when I was a kid. So, who knows how accurate it's going to be, it was a long time ago-"

"Rory, honey, you're making me nervous. Please just tell me what happened." Chris said calmly, cutting Rory off and refocused her a little.

"This feels a bit like a fink out thing, and I hate being a fink." Chris laughed at the use of a similar phrase he used with Lorelai.

"This overrules the fink out thing, so tell me."

Rory sighed and tried to figure out where to start, realizing that it wasn't going to make a whole lot of sense otherwise she started from the beginning. "Ok, well according to mom she packed up and left Hartford when no one was home one day. She packed up her car and drove to Stars Hollow. She showed up at the Independence Inn and asked the owner, Mia, if she could have a job. Apparently, she looked pathetic because it was raining and she was soaked for some reason and was carrying me, the owner took pity on her and said that she could be a maid. Because of the odd circumstances, I guess Mia asked if she had anywhere to go, and when she said no Mia offered the potting shed out back for us to live in."

"THE POTTING SHED!" Chris yelled as he leapt out of his seat. Both Chris and Logan knew, even with their limited child-rearing experience, that it was not safe or healthy for anyone, let alone a toddler to live in a shed at all, let alone during their early developmental stages.

"Yeah, the potting shed." Lorelai had once told her that she shouldn't tell anyone that they lived in the potting shed and that if people asked, she was supposed to tell people that they lived at the Independence Inn. At the time she thought it had to do with their mail, but now she wasn't so sure.

Chris took a few deep breathes then sat down. "How long did you live there?"

"Until I was 9. That was when we moved into the Crap Shack."

Chris gapped at Rory not sure what to say for a minute. "Was it an actual potting shed or was it an apartment that used to be a potting shed?" Chris asked thinking about a renovation he saw once where a garage was turned into a sitting room.

"It was more potting shed then apartment. It was one room; the bathtub was in the corner and mom and I shared the bed."

"Was it insulated at least?"

Rory went to defend her little home when an odd thought occurred to her. The shed didn't look insulated and the temperature inside was always similar to what it was outside.

_[Flashback]_

_5-year-old Rory woke up frozen. As she looked around the potting shed, she called home she realized why. The little electric furnace they had wasn't on, it must have finally bit the dust, but it was the wind outside that worried her. If it got too windy outside the shed would freeze._

_It was still dark out so they couldn't go back to the Inn yet, plus with the worsening weather, they might not be able to get there. _

_Rory slowly slipped from the bed and gathered another pair of socks, a sweater to pull over her pyjamas and a hat to keep her head warm. She thought that most kids didn't have to sleep in winter hats and she wondered why her mom would leave a big house where she was warm all the time._

_When she crawled in next to her mom, she began dreaming of the day they would have insulation and central heating and not worry about freezing in the middle of the night. Rory knew that you were not supposed to fall asleep while this cold, one of the lessons Laura Ingalls taught her, so she cracked open her book and began to read by the glow of a flashlight that was kept under the bed._

_[End flashback]_

"Rory?" Rory's eyes snapped back to Christopher realizing she had zoned out. "I asked if the potting shed was insulated."

"No, I don't think it was."

Chris took a couple keep breaths trying to steady himself as what exactly had happened started to sink in. "What did you do in the winter?"

"I remember at one point we had a little space heater. It broke one year in the middle of a storm and I remember I was so cold, but it was the middle of the night so I couldn't do anything about it. The wind had picked up and it made the shed so cold. I remember I got out of bed to get a hat and wondered why mom would leave a warm house where we wouldn't have to sleep in winter hats."

"You didn't go somewhere that was winterized?" Rory just shook her head stunned at what she was realizing.

"I don't know why we didn't, someone in town would have let us stay with them, I'm sure of it."

Everyone in the room got quiet as the truth of Rory's childhood sunk in. "You said something about the bathtub being in there? So, you guys had plumbing?"

"Kind of. We didn't have a sink or a toilet, but the bathtub was connected to the Inn's outdoor water supply, so the water came from the hose and in the winter we'd have to go to the inn to have a shower or bath."

"Ace," Logan chimed in finally having a question that he felt Chris wouldn't have the willpower to ask. "What about in the middle of the night? Or if you couldn't make it to the inn in time to do your business?"

"We would have a bucket to use if we had to, but that was it." Chris looked like he was ready to blow an aneurism his face was so red.

"A goddamn bucket," Chris muttered to himself as he shook his head in disbelieve. Suddenly something occurred to him. "Oh my god."

"What?" Rory said baffled

"I didn't understand it at the time but now it makes sense. Your mom knew about Stars Hollow because we had driven through there a few times. If your mom and I needed to get away we'd sometimes go to Weston's and wander around the town. She used to describe it 'Willy Wonka's Factory' because it was so colourful and cute that she thought it belonged in the movie."

"Ok?" Rory said confused. "You're drifting."

"It didn't take me too long to figure out where you were, she said that Stars Hollow would be a good place to run away too. So I called everyone in Stars Hollow and asked if I could speak with Lorelai Gilmore. It only took about three phone calls before I was talking to Babette and she told me exactly where Lorelai was and what she was doing there. So, I called the Inn and I spoke to your mom. She said that you guys were fine and that I didn't need to come down,"

"And you agreed? Did you think you were being let off the hook?" Rory got slightly hostile at the idea that her dad just left her.

"No!" Chris exclaimed, hurt that his daughter thought that he didn't want her or that she was a situation that he wanted out of. He understood why she'd think that he didn't exactly have a great track record for showing up. "I did see it as an opportunity to get out from under my parents' thumb though and I did prioritize that. I did call the inn a couple of times a week to check-in and when I finally pushed the issue about seeing you, Lorelai told me that she'd meet me in Hartford. I never understood why she insisted on that, I knew where Stars Hollow was and it would have been easy enough for me to come and see you, but now I think she was hiding the fact that you were living in questionable conditions, to say the least." Rory took in what her dad said, and while she wanted to be mad at him, she couldn't fault him for using her existence as a reason to take off from a life he didn't want. Lorelai had done essentially the same thing and she was doing something similar. "Your mom was always so sure of what she wanted, and I was a scared kid who was handed the biggest responsibility and I was petrified. I was so sure that I would screw you up and hurt you, so I stayed away. When I did see you when you were little, you didn't know me or trust me, and I'm still not convinced you didn't hate me, but you loved your mom and that just confirmed that I was a terrible dad and there wasn't much point in me fighting for you.' Chris spun the glass he was holding around in his hands before he spoke again. "I'm so sorry, I should have fought harder for you. To see you and to spend real time with you. I should have checked where you were living and there are probably a thousand other things I failed at, but I am really very sorry."

Rory looked at her dad and she wasn't quite sure what to say or do. He had never apologized for the way he acted when she was growing up and she was starting to wonder if what her mom did was really for the best. Growing up in a potting shed without heat or plumbing, while a unique and interesting experience, should not have happened and her mom could have stuck it out in Hartford until she could afford a real place to live. Or she could have seen if Mia would have let them live with her temporarily, just until she could afford a real place. Mia adored the Gilmore Girls and likely would have taken them into her home. Rory was starting to wonder if maybe Mia or someone did offer to have them move in, but Lorelai turned it down.

"It's ok dad. Mom was always a force to be reckoned with, and you were a kid. I didn't lie awake at night and hoped someone would come and save me, I did hope I could have plumbing and heating, and I separately wished that my dad was around more but I didn't connect the two until now."

"So, we're moving past this?"

"We are. Just promise not to kill mom when you call her?"

"I'll be nice. I will yell though."

"I appreciate that. I have a few questions of my own I'd like answered."

Chris smiled sadly at his daughter, realizing that he may have inadvertently shattered Rory's perception of her childhood and that his staying away may have done more harm than just having an awkward relationship with Rory.

A clearing of a throat brought Chris out of his musings and he watched a small scene play out in front of him. Rory was leaning into Logan's side, clearly exhausted from the adventures of the weekend and Logan was bringing her attention to the time. With a slight nod of her head, they began getting ready to leave.

"It was good to see you dad, but we have to go. I have to work in the morning and it's an hour flight back to New York."

"It was good to see you, kiddo. With another round of hugs and handshakes, Logan and Rory headed back to New York.

* * *

It was getting close to ten o'clock when they arrived outside Rory's apartment building. It had been a long weekend and they were both exhausted, though Rory was nearly falling asleep on his shoulder.

"Ace, we're here." Rory groaned but refused to open her eyes, causing Logan to chuckle. "C'mon sleepy head, the bed will be more comfortable."

"Don't want to sleep without you." Rory groggily replied.

Logan smiled at her knowing that she wasn't fully aware of what she said, but was glad she voiced it none the less. "Well, it's a good thing you don't have too. But I can't carry you and our stuff at the same time, so you'll have to propel yourself."

"Wait," Rory said finally perking up enough to be aware of her surroundings. "What do you mean it's a good thing I won't have to sleep without you?"

"Well, I packed a bag of work-appropriate clothing and had Frank keep it in the car in case I ended up staying at your place."

"Really?"

"Really. I've quickly gotten used to sleeping beside you again and I know that we said that we'd take it slow but I refuse to be separated from my family because we're working our crap out. I'm not suggesting we move in together yet, but I think we can skip the weird awkward dating part and go straight to staying the night." Logan said passionately. "Plus, I like your place more than mine."

Rory smiled at Logan, glad that they were on the same page. "I'd like you to stay."

"Good. Now that we have that covered, go upstairs and be the organization freak that you are and get ready for work tomorrow, while I get our things out of the car."

"I am not a freak! I just like very specific pens." Logan laughed as Rory stuck her tongue out at him then slid out of the car before he could argue with her. Rory went upstairs and as she organized everything to be ready to go for her first day as an editor at a New York City paper. As Rory looked at her stack of pens, sticky notes, and anything else she could possibly need, she felt that her life was falling into place.

When she came out of her makeshift office and saw Logan on the couch watching TV with two cups of tea on the coffee table, she knew that this was exactly where she was supposed to be.

* * *

**AN: I know the thing with the toilet might be pushing it a bit but I swear they didn't show a toilet in the shed so I'm rolling with it. I also know that it was officially a renovated potting shed but to me, it didn't look renovated beyond what Lorelai did to the inside and that's how we got this chapter.**

**Review if you please!**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Here's another chapter for all of you! I realized I forgot to announce the answer for my question at the end of Chapter 10, the answer was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I wrote truly, I heard scrumptious. **

**I added a poll on my profile for this story so if you could vote in it, I'd appreciate it! **

**On with the show!**

* * *

Rory's first day at work was hectic, to say the least. Her morning started with a meeting with Josh, most of it was basic new employee paperwork but they also discussed how opinions should be run.

"I'm not expecting this to become the New York Times, but I do want this paper to be able to compete as a reliable news source and not be a laughing stock of the news paper world."

"Understood, but I doubt it will become that."

"We had massive gaps in our paper that I kept having to fill with advertisements and out of context photos because your predecessor was incompetent to say the least."

Rory nodded in agreement. "I was going over your previous issues and noticed some issues that should be easy enough to fix. Simple editing and increase in content should deal with the issue. How much space are we supposed to fill?"

"Theoretically you're supposed to have seven to ten articles each one five hundred to a thousand words. The rest should be filled with letters to the editor and columns submitted from outside sources. The issue is that we haven't had submissions in quite a few years."

"What if I write a few bigger pieces, two to three thousand words, until we can get into a better rhythm. I can see if Charlotte has been banking stories away, or some had been rejected by the last guy that we can tweak to make work. Also, do you have anyone else on staff who might be willing to help us out for a bit and write a few pieces?"

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe if someone was writing a big investigative piece but has hit a wall, and needs to just get their juices flowing and would write a short piece for us?"

"That's not a bad idea. I'll send out a mass email and see if anyone would help you out. Anything else?"

"Yeah, do you have anyone on the books from the presidential campaign?"

"Yeah, they're still on until the inauguration."

"Could we borrow one, until we sort ourselves out."

"I'll do you one better, if you like them, and our cashflow increases, you can keep them."

"Perfect!"

"Politics will need them occasionally until the end of January."

"That will work. Also, have you got the office into the 21st century?"

"Just about. We were going to work with the computer that was in there, but we realized it's an old MS-DOS computer and that wasn't going to work, so we had to get you a new one." Rory sorted thinking about the old computer at the Stars Hollow Gazette. At Josh's strange look she told him to continue, knowing it would take to long to explain "Anyway, it's being set up as we speak."

"Thank you, Josh. It must be awkward to have a new employee starting just before Christmas. How would you like me to introduce myself to the staff, should I send out a mass email or will there be a meeting?"

"Most already know that we replaced crazy Sal and that you were starting today so it won't be a surprise to anyone. You can send out an email if you like but there will be a department head meeting, this includes you, at 1 o'clock on Thursday. Normally they're at 8 am Wednesday morning but I thought it would be a good idea to give you a chance to get your feet wet before parading you around."

Rory chuckled having a feeling that no matter what Josh did, she'd probably be on display quite a bit in the next while. Especially once people realized that not only was she pregnant, but that the father was the new owner of their paper. "I appreciate that. For my first piece, I was thinking that I'd write about our president-elect. I have quite a bit to say and it will easily fill the space. Oddly enough nothing was printed in opinions about the incumbent."

"Rory, you don't have to run every idea you have for a piece by me. If you could shoot me an email just giving me a heads up about the potential content, I'll appreciate it. As long as you're not planning on bypassing me and me finding out what you wrote on in the paper I'll be thrilled."

"I think I can manage that."

"Good, now head up to your office. Your staff is eagerly awaiting your arrival."

"Thanks, chief."

The two shook hands and Josh laughed as Rory practically skipped from his office.

Rory was sitting in her new office with Charlotte going over the pieces that they could run in the upcoming issue.

"This is everything you have banked?" Rory said astonished at the number of stories that Charlotte had written but were never published.

Charlotte nodded, "Yes. Sal would get cranky if I wrote to much. He would run my pieces about once a month, more if someone got on his case."

"Charlotte, that fantastic, we have enough here to last us for a week or two, and that's without us writing anything new. Is there any chance you know where the old editorial submissions ended up?"

"If they haven't been tossed, they're probably buried in one of the old filing cabinets." Charlotte gestured to the mess behind Rory. While the technology problem had been dealt with before Rory started, the office was still in a state from Sal.

"Go and write another piece, while all of this is good, we can't survive on banked pieces for long. While you do that, I'll see if I can find some editorials and get to work on my own pieces."

Charlotte looked stunned when she realized what Rory was telling her. "You are going to write for the paper?"

"Yes I am. That's one of the reasons that I wanted to take this job." Rory neglected to mention how her career had stagnated. "For now it's just the two of us and in order for this to work we both need to pull our weight."

Charlotte smirked at Rory, "Nice pep talk."

"Thanks. My first big piece is going to be on our President- Elect."

"Pulling out the big guns already, huh."

"I'm thinking it's necessary."

"Honest question, and no offence but I did a little research on you after we met the other day."

"That is what any good reporter would do, and I'd do the same thing. What is you question, Charlotte?"

"Do you really want to start off on a big piece on Donald Trump? From my research it looked like you had not had anything published majorly since your piece on Naomi Shropshire in Time Magazine, and that was over a year ago. Do you think it might be a good idea to write on something lower profile just to make sure you get the rust off?"

Rory examined Charlotte for a minute and took in what she said. She knew that what Charlotte was saying was essentially true. While she had written it had been drafts of her book and that was not the same as writing a piece for a daily newspaper with a larger readership then the entire population of Stars Hollow. Rory also knew that when she charged into things without fully thinking them through, they tended to go up in flames and she refused to have this be another item on her long list of disasters. "Charlotte that's a good idea. I am still going to write about Trump, because we haven't written anything yet, but I'll write something else first." Rory took a breath and quickly scratched down a few ideas for other stories she could write, as Charlotte was turning to leave Rory stopped her. "I know that Sal wasn't well liked around here but often when a long standing staff member leaves a paper there is a short piece written up about them, their achievements, how long they've been working here, that type of thing."

Charlotte groaned at the implication. "Do you think that's necessary?"

"I do, unfortunately. When Mitchum Huntzberger died his son took out a whole page in the New York Times to announce his death and say what a good man and business tycoon he was. Now between you and me, he was not like that at all but there is a certain part we need to play. Plus, we're in the public eye and we can't make a bigger fool of ourselves then we already are."

Charlotte sighed in agreement before nodding her head. "Alright, but you should clear that with Josh."

"I'll do that." With that Charlotte left Rory's office, leaving her to the mess that Sal left behind for her to clean up.

* * *

"Ace? You here?" It was Thursday and the week had flown by in a haze of meetings, editing, cleaning up her office, and most importantly writing. Rory had been in heaven and she was thrilled to be back in the newsroom.

"Back here." Logan followed her voice to the back of the apartment and found her on the floor in the mostly empty smaller bedroom.

"Hey. What are you doing?" Rory looked up at him and smiled, which prompted him to sit down next to her.

"I was just thinking."

"That makes me nervous." Rory shoved Logan's shoulder before leaning against him.

"There's going to be a baby sleeping in here in six months." Rory said serenely.

"Yeah, I know." Rory glanced around the room thinking about the things she would need to get and where it would go. "Rory?"

"Yeah?" Rory said distractedly.

"Will you go to dinner with me, tomorrow night?"

Rory turned and stared at Logan for a second. "What?" Rory said with a chuckle.

"I asked if you would go out with me tomorrow." Rory gaped at him for a minute stunned. They hadn't been on a real date in probably a year, if she really thought about it, they might not have really gone out since college. Once she got over her shock, she smiled at him and nodded. "I'd love to."

Logan grinned and pulled her into his side before dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Ok, great! Tomorrow at 7:30 and don't back out or else I'll end up sitting at home watching An Affair to Remember and eating ice cream."

Rory laughed at the odd statement. "I haven't heard a line like that since Yale, when you used it on me." Rory laughed some more but couldn't help but feel excited about the prospect of dinner. "7:30 it is."

"Great! Now, dinner?"

Rory scoffed in confusion. "You already asked me to dinner."

"I meant what does the baby want for dinner tonight." Logan said with a chuckle.

"The baby's cold so she would like soup."

"Soup it is." Logan came over and helped Rory off the floor once he realized she was having trouble standing. Logan chuckled, but didn't comment thinking it might backfire. "You know it could be a boy."

"It'll be a girl, Gilmore's always have daughters."

"Except your Grandpa, and great-grandpa."

"There are still more girls then boys."

Logan smiled as Rory settled in at the barstool across from him. "I'll prepare for Lorelai the fourth then."

An odd look crossed Rory's face that made Logan stop what he was doing and focus on her. "Ace? What is it?"

"Oh, nothing," Rory said dismissively.

"Rory." Logan said forcefully. "C'mon, don't do that. What's wrong?"

Rory sighed knowing that she needed to tell Logan what she was thinking, but since she hadn't fully come to terms with it herself, she wasn't sure what to say about it. "I don't want to name her Lorelai." Rory blurted out finally.

Logan was stunned, he was almost positive that their daughter would be the latest Lorelai and to hear Rory say otherwise was shocking. "Really?"

"Yeah, I love that my mom named me after her, but I always felt that I was the second act and that I needed to make up for my moms failings."

"Rory,"

"No, I know, but I just want our daughter to have her own identity and be allowed to make her own mistakes." Rory looked at him with those big bambi eyes as if she were pleading with him for something. "I do want that to be her middle name." Rory almost demanded. Logan shook his head as he realized she was able to shift in the span of two seconds.

"Then if it's a boy, we can use my name." Logan smirked.

"Deal!" After a mock handshake, the two sat down to eat.

* * *

When Rory got home from work, she kicked off her shoes haphazardly in the entryway and slumped down onto the couch exhausted. Her car had stalled on her way home from work, luckily, she had enough warning that she was able to pull over but it wouldn't start again no matter how much she tried. Once she had gotten her car towed she was unable to hail a cab, so she ended up having walk the rest of the way home.

She had been sitting on the couch, mindlessly flipping through the television channels when a note was slipped under her front door. Rory was unimpressed at the prospect of moving for her spot on the sofa, but she had a not so sneaking suspicion that the strange note came from Logan. Sure enough, once she willed herself to get off the couch and read the note she was proven right.

_Ace,_

_There's new event integrity sitting on your bed. Put it on and be outside your building and ready to go by 6:30. No blind fold necessary. Be ready to spend time outside. _

_In Omnia Paratus _

Rory couldn't help but laugh at the odd note that was so reminiscent of the first brigade event she attended back at Yale. Despite herself, she let out a little squeal as she hurried to the bedroom to see what Logan had got her, her earlier exhaustion forgotten. She quickly found the box and pulled out a knee length mineral blue dress, with embroidered flowers and short caped sleeves. The dress reminded her of the dress she wore at the same brigade event and Rory knew that Logan would have done that on purpose. Though she was more then a little surprised not to find a ball gown in the dress box but was thrilled with the simple elegance of the dress instead of the over-dramatic flare that Logan normally went for.

At exactly 6:30 Rory was standing outside her building when a black SUV pulled up in front of her. Logan quickly hoped out of the vehicle and came over to greet her with a kiss on the cheek; he backed away and took in her appearance.

"You look amazing, Ace," Logan said with a grin.

"Well I wouldn't want to ruin the integrity of the event," Rory replied with a sly grin. "What exactly is this event anyway?" Even though she knew what his response would be, Rory had to ask.

"C'mon Ace, you know I can't tell." Logan joked as he helped her into the back of the SUV. Rory glanced at the driver just to see how far Logan was going with recreating the brigade event. She was relieved to see that Finn wasn't in the drivers seat but was no even more curious then she was before.

"Looking for Finn?"

"Yeah, I thought you were going all out?" Rory joked as the car pulled away from the curb and headed towards Manhattan.

"I'm hurt, Ace. Truly." Rory just shook her head at his dramatics as he continued. "No, just dinner then a little surprise for you afterwards."

"Can I have a hint?" She begged, trying to use the innocent look that can turn him into putty.

"Ace, let me have some secrets please!" Logan cried knowing that he'd tell her anything if she kept that up. "Fine, I'll give you a hint!" Rory just smiled expectantly. "It's something you've always wanted to do."

"Well, I've already been to Fes, and I've got things to do, so can we avoid the surprise overnighter this time?"

"We aren't going to Fes, and there won't be an impromptu trip; but that's all I'm going to say!"

Rory pretended to pout for a minute but then changed the subject.

Half an hour later they pulled up in front of a small restaurant in Greenwich Village. As Logan led her inside she looked around, amazed at this romantic little restaurant hidden away in a old carriage house. They were quickly seated at a secluded table in the corner next to a roaring fireplace and next to a window overlooking the back garden that Rory imagined would be beautiful during the summer.

The evening went on in a lovely manner and the two were able to relax and talk and flirt in a way they hadn't really been able to since they were in college. Sure, they talked and flirted while they were in 'Vegas' but it wasn't the same.

"How was your first week at the Post? I want to know everything." Rory had told Logan about the highlights of a couple of days, but he really wanted to know whatever she had left out in her excited retelling.

"It went really well! Josh and I talked, and we've got a plan to sort the department out, Charlotte talked some sense into me which I appreciated." Logan's eyebrows shot up in confusion at how one of her journalists counteracted her, if something like that had happened to his father the poor employee would have been fired before he finished his sentence. "Well, I was planning on writing on Donald Trump for my first piece, but Charlotte thought that might not be a good idea."

Logan hesitated for a moment before speaking, "She does have a point. You're a brilliant writer and I wouldn't have put you up for this position if I didn't think you'd be great at it, but you have been out of the game for a while and Donald Trump is a huge story. I'm not sure if starting out with that would be the best idea."

"I agree with you. I can't charge into this and taking a minute to get my feet wet is the best thing to do." Rory smiled sweetly at him, trying to ease his anxiety. They had argued and debated in the past, but Logan hadn't tried to talk her off a cliff before and she knew he was uneasy about it. "Charlotte said something similar to me, and I very quickly realized that she was right. This story is to big to not do properly so I was thinking about what else I could write about first and I came up with two options. I know that when a long time staff member of a publication leaves it is tradition to write a farewell piece, and I thought I would write Sal's."

"I hate that we have to do that, the man was a menace and completely useless."

"Is Charlotte your relative too, I swear I had the same conversation with her." Rory said with a chuckle.

"I don't think so." Logan scoffed. "What was your other idea?"

"A piece on Gene Wilder."

Logan grinned at the idea. "That's a fantastic idea. He meant so much to so many people and it would be the perfect piece to introduce you to readers." He said excitedly.

"Right! The man might not have been a national icon, but he was loved by many. He meant so much to my mom and I and it would be a good way to stretch my writing skills but still writing something important."

"This is important and good ol' Sal missed it. I'm glad you'll be writing it, you'll give the piece that special Gilmore flare."

"Nothing less will do for Willy Wonka." They both started laughing at that last statement before delving into a long conversation about Logan running HPG by trial by fire.

A while later the conversation turned back to Rory's new job. "So, other then Charlotte straitening you out, what else happened at the Post?"

"Well, Josh is letting me borrow one of the campaign reporters until we sort ourselves out. He's contracted through the inauguration so we won't be spending any money keeping him around, and if everything works out, we might even be allowed to keep him. He seems like a smart kid and I hope it all works out and he can stick around for a while. Oh!" Rory suddenly yelped, "That reminds me, Josh asked that when we go public that we let him print the exclusive in the Post."

Logan laughed at the tangent and how Josh managed to weasel that little tidbit out of her. "I think we can manage that. We'll probably have to print one the next day in the Times, so we still have some control over the whole thing." Rory nodded in agreement, she understood that their relationship was going to be news and that she would have to deal with this for a long time. She hoped that the majority of the hoopla would die down by the time their kid was born, or at least old enough to understand what was happening.

"As long as the Post gets the first print, I don't mind." Rory took a bite of her food before continuing her story. "Anyway, I met more of the staff at the editor meeting on Wednesday and they practically threw me a parade for taking over for Sal. The old goat thought that he was Editor-in-Chief and tried to tell the other editors what to do. You can imagine how well that what over." Logan nodded imagining how his uncle would have demanded things be done, no matter what anyone said to him.

"All in all, my week went really well except it ended horribly."

Logan's attention snapped back to Rory at that. With concern in his voice he asked, "What happened?" He was a little worried that someone had made some rude comments about their relationship, unfortunately the truth wasn't much better. "My car broke down on my way home, and I was unable to get a cab, so I ended up having to walk the last 10 blocks of my commute."

"What?!" Logan bellowed, bringing quite a bit of attention on to them. All the attention had made Rory startle and she tried to calm Logan down.

"It's fine, I got it towed and it was a nice enough day for a walk. It wasn't that bad in the end."

Logan took a deep breathe knowing that he shouldn't fly off the handle completely. "Will you please consider getting a new car?" Logan said once he could speak calmly.

"I've already looked into it actually. I think I'm also going to trade up, go for something higher-end this time. Also, something a little larger, not too overboard but an SUV for sure." Logan was stunned at this, he honestly thought he was going to have to beg her to even consider getting something larger than her little Prius.

"What were you looking at?"

"Well, I was originally looking at a Lincoln MKC, an Infiniti QX60 and a Range Rover." Logan scrunched up his face at the mention of the Range Rover. "The pro/con list wasn't kind to the Range Rover, but I decided to also look at a Lexus RX L."

"Those are all good ones. You did like my Porsche though." Logan teased.

"I wouldn't be caught dead driving a Porsche and you know it."

An hour later the two were back in the SUV and heading further north into Manhattan. "What happened to my surprise mister?"

"Ok, close your eyes." Rory closed her eyes and felt the car slow to a stop. She heard Logan slide out of the car after planting a quick kiss on her lips. Her door opened and Logan led her from the car and over a few steps. "Ok," He whispered in her ear. "Open your eyes." Rory opened her eyes to see a beautiful horse drawn carriage. "I know that the last time we were next to a horse drawn carriage wasn't the best time, but I was thinking we could indulge in what we missed out on last time."

Rory spun around and kissed Logan right there in the middle of 5th avenue. The kiss was full of love, promise and more then a little passion, and Rory didn't care that hundreds of people were watching her thoroughly kiss her boyfriend. When they finally parted Rory grinned up at Logan, who had an equally smug and dazed look on his face, before speaking. "Thank you for this. When I took that carriage around campus with my mom, I kept wishing that it was you there with me. I realized that I should've pushed for us to talk."

"That's ok. I have a feeling that I might have jumped out of the carriage. We weren't ready and you would have stood by that, I wouldn't have agreed no matter what you said." Logan rubbed Rory's arms as she started to shiver. "Hopefully, this ride will be memorable for a different reason."

Rory laughed lightly before climbing into the carriage. They were quiet most of the ride, just taking in the scenery of Central Park and enjoying each others company. Rory was growing increasingly tired and laid her head against Logan's shoulder which prompted him to put his arm around her and pull her closer.

"Huntzberger." Rory suddenly stated dreamily.

"What?" Logan said confused.

"No," Rory chuckled. "I want the baby's last name to be Huntzberger." Logan pulled away so he was able to look directly at Rory as she spoke. "I always thought that my kids would be Gilmore's, but I want us to be a family and having them be a Huntzberger would be perfect." Logan was stunned by the revelation but before he could say anything Rory spoke again. "I do want Gilmore in there somewhere, I still haven't decided if I'm changing my name when we get married."

Logan frowned a little at the thought, "You want hyphenated Gilmore-Huntzberger's?"

"No, I thought about it but it's just not right. I thought we could do what my mom did with Hayden in my name."

"So, they'd have two middle names?" Rory nodded as Logan gave it a thought. "That's a good idea, it keeps your name in there, but it eliminates the confusion that would come with hyphenating." Rory was thrilled that Logan was coming around. "Also, it makes filling out forms much easier. Rory nodded in agreement. One of her reasons for not wanting to hyphenate the last name was that an old friend from grade school had a hyphenated name that was so long he couldn't fit the whole name onto official forms.

The two relaxed into one another again after their discussion and enjoyed what was left of their ride.

* * *

The next day Rory was sitting at her desk writing more of her book, thinking that it would probably be left unpublished. She had finished her piece on Gene Wilder that morning, Charlotte, and Logan had been right about needing a buffer piece to stretch her journalistic legs and Gene Wilder had been the perfect piece to do it. It was a subject she was passionate about, but it wasn't as high profile as Donald Trump. Once she had finished stretching her legs, she decided to tackle her book again. It had morphed from almost a fairy tale about a fantastical childhood to one where Rory was trying to sort out some of her problems that she had picked up from Lorelai. She was drawn out of her musings when her cell phone suddenly rang.

Rory looked at the caller ID, not recognizing the number right away she hesitated to answer but seeing it was from Connecticut made her answer. "Hello?"

"Rory! It's Steph!"

"Stephanie, hi! I'm glad you called!"

"Me too. Now when we went to lunch last week you said that you'd go shopping with me, and I was wondering if you were free today?"

Rory looked around at the stack of paper on her desk and when she realized most of her work was related to her book, she decided that it might be good to go out with Steph. She hadn't seen her in ages, and it would be nice to get together with her again.

"You know what, I am free."

Stephanie let out a little squeal before she spoke again. "Perfect! I'm just getting to the city so is there anywhere specific you want to go?"

Rory thought about it for a minute and knowing that Steph would be up for a full day of shopping she made a request. "I was planning on trading in my Prius, so how would you feel about test driving some cars with me?"

"You're trading in your Prius? I can't believe it! What made you decide to put old reliable out to pasture finally?"

"It was a couple of things, but Logan pointed out that I'd be driving around more then I was in the last year or so, and I really should have a vehicle from this decade at least."

"He's right, especially since you have extra cargo you need something safer than a car you've driven for close to fifteen years."

"It hasn't been that long, but you are right. I'll be driving back and forth from Connecticut a lot, and that's two hours on the interstate, and in 6 months I'll be driving with a baby in the backseat and they need something better than my 2003 Toyota. Plus, I'll be going back and forth from work and who knows where else. It was fine when I didn't use it very much, but now I need an upgrade."

"An upgrade huh?"

Rory shook her head at Steph's prodding. "Yeah, I can afford it and I've decided I want an SUV."

"Sounds good. Though after the test drives, we are going to Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue because I'm getting you out of those Target jeans."

"Hey! They're comfortable."

"True, but you're going to need maternity clothes and god knows what else, and when I called, I meant a shopping spree through midtown, not cars. So, we'll do your thing, then we'll do mine."

Rory rolled her eyes at the dramatics but grinned. She always liked Steph and felt bad that they lost touch after college, so she was looking forward to spending time with one of her friends again. "Ok, one lap through Bloomingdale's."

"It's going to be a hell of a lap! I'll pick you up in an hour, ok?"

"Ok, do you need my address?"

"Nope, I got it from Logan, and I must say girl you picked a beautiful area."

"Thanks, I'm pleased with it. I'll give you the ten cent tour when you get here."

Rory heard a giggle come through the line before Steph spoke again, "Can't wait, I'll see you soon, bye!" Steph hung up before Rory had a chance to reply, which made her laugh at absurdity of the whole thing, but she couldn't deny that she loved it.

Rory checked the time and decided that she'd have something to eat then change into something more appropriate for Bloomindale's. She quickly sent off a text to Logan, wanting to make sure that he didn't arrive at an empty apartment and panicked.

_Rory - Steph called; she has hijacked me into going shopping with her. _

_Logan - Good luck, I'll rescue you if you ask nicely._

_Rory - No need, I do need some new clothes, plus I've convinced her to test drive some cars in exchange for me spending HOURS at Bloomingdale's. _

_Logan - That's a good idea. Are you just looking?_

_Rory – If I see something I like I'm going to buy. My car is clearly ready to be put out to pasture and we're supposed to go up to Nantucket next week and my Prius just won't make it._

_Logan – We could take the jet again_

_Rory – No! Do you have any idea how my mom would react to THAT! Also, do you not remember the hassle involved trying to get to the house from the airport? And that was on a slow day!_

_Logan – You're right. I don't need to anger Lorelai anymore then I already have. _

_Rory – She doesn't hate you._

_Logan – I'd beg to differ._

_Rory – Yeah, ok, but we're driving to Nantucket_

_Logan – Yes dear. _

_Rory – Haha, I'll see you later. What time do you think you'll be back?_

_Logan – 5 at the latest. I wish I didn't need to have meetings on Saturday but sometimes I can't help it. The owner of the New York Times waits for no man, even the newspaper king._

_Rory – That's ok. With Christmas next week I'm not that surprised. _

_Logan – Lucky for us all his grand-daughter is in a Christmas pageant this afternoon and he said he would leave me stranded in Times Square before missing it. So, I'll be back at a reasonable time._

_Logan – Can't wait to be running off to Christmas pageants, or risk facing my wife's wrath in five years. _

_Rory – Me neither. _

_Logan – See you tonight, love you._

_Rory – Love you too. _

Rory wasn't one for using many emoji's, she normally preferred to type everything out but she knew that Logan wouldn't care if she tossed a bunch if emoji's into their texts. Rory noticed the time and quickly ran off to get ready to go shopping with Steph.

* * *

At 5:30 Logan came home to find Rory sitting on the couch in front of the TV, with CNN on low while she had wrote on pieces of paper. Rory glanced up when she heard the door close and smiled when she saw him, "Hey, how was your day?"

Logan went into the kitchen and started the kettle for a cup of tea. "It was good." He shouted from the kitchen, though wasn't really necessary in her apartment. "Once he realized I wasn't planning on buying him out he was much nicer to me. It was nice. We had a nice chat about the news industry and how we thought it was going to go. He gave me some good pointers for how to run a paper that dear old dad never thought to mention, and I've got a better idea on how to move forward." Logan came over with two cups of tea and placed them on the coffee table before sitting down next to a captivated Rory to keep talking. "I had a decent idea of what to do short term and to keep the company afloat, but I didn't know what to do long term. Arthur Jones has been at this a long time and had some invaluable information." Logan looked at Rory who looked amazed. "What?"

"I can't believe that you had a meeting with Arthur Jones. You live an amazing life Huntzberger."

"That one you can be amazed by, but please don't do that every time I have a meeting with someone who's book is on your bookshelf." Logan begged.

Rory laughed at his pout, "I make no promises."

Logan just groaned before changing the subject, "How was your day?"

"Good, I finished my first Op-Ed, I reframed my book though I'm not sure I'm going to publish it, I bought a car and I watched Steph almost become the owner of Bloomingdale's." Logan looked at Rory stunned while she just grinned at him.

"You bought a new car?"

"Yeah, I ended up getting the Infiniti. It's a little larger then I thought I'd go for but I liked the entertainment system in the back for when the kids got a little older, it has good mileage and they gave me $1200 for my Prius. It has all the bells and whistles, safety features for days and I love the colour, it's a beautiful coffee colour and the inside is creamy with wood trim. I wouldn't believe I just spent over $65,000 on a car if I hadn't been there." Logan's jaw dropped when he heard about the price. "Was that too much? Grandpa bought my Prius and I don't really know how much is reasonable to spend on a luxury car without going overboard." Rory said with an edge in her voice.

"No! It's fine," Logan said quickly trying to calm her down. "My old Porsche was over 200,000. Yours was totally reasonable considering the super fancy package you went for."

Rory blushed in embarrassment before speaking. "It'll be good in the long term."

"You're right. Plus, it'll keep Uncle Finn occupied when we return him to Connecticut after he drops by unannounced." Rory groaned as Logan laughed.

Rory put the pages she was reading on the coffee table, and Logan got a glimpse, when he noticed the title, he got curious. "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh," Rory perked up at the mention of her writing. "It's my piece on Gene Wilder. Will you read it and tell me what you think?"

"Yeah, I'd love too."

Logan picked up the article and started to read.

_Mr. Wonka's Last Note_

_By: Rory Gilmore_

_The first movie I ever remember watching was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It is my moms favourite movie and it was a staple of my childhood. The first time I saw it the movie theatre in my hometown decided to play it one night and my mom took me to see it. We didn't see many movies when I was little and we rarely went to the theatre, even if the theatre was also a bookstore that only seated 20 people and was operated by the local entrepreneur with terrible ideas and worked 43 other jobs around town._

_I remember sitting on the sofa, eating the snacks my mom had smuggled inside and I watched as Gene Wilder made his dramatic exit from the factory to the adoring crowds outside the gate. As I watched I felt what I imagined Charlie felt that day. I was handed a golden ticket and I went on a magical trip through the chocolate factory, Oompa Loompas, and all._

_I often revisited the chocolate factory throughout my childhood and beyond. Gene Wilder was always this mythical figure that could make dreams come true. He taught me to dream, to be kind and not to be greedy. He also taught me the unfortunate habit of singing the Oompa Loompa song every time I started humming a tune._

_My childhood was built around this movie. My mom and I would watch it almost once a week with a food spread that looked like it came right out of the chocolate factory. I always associated Willy Wonka with an easier time in my life, when all I had to worry about was learning to ride my bike, when my entire world was a block wide and my mom was the most important person in my life. As time marched on and my world expanded past the block where my childhood home still sits Gene Wilder would always be there, prepared to take me on an adventure through the chocolate factory._

_When I learned that Gene Wilder died, I was going through a hard time in my life. I had made some bad decisions, my grandfather had recently died, and my career had stalled out, but watching Willy Wonka had made me feel better. Everything seemed less complicated when I watched it. When I learned that Willy Wonka himself, a man (fictional as he may be) who I always believed was invincible had died I couldn't believe. It had felt like my childhood had officially died then, that there was no room for happiness anymore. Later, when I learned that he was suffering from Alzheimer's and that Gene Wilder had purposely hidden this from the public I was even more upset, then I heard why. He didn't hide his disease out of shame or vanity, it was because he didn't want anyone to look at him and feel pity, he wanted to look at him and smile. I realized then that while my childhood may be over, my adventures in the chocolate factory go on and while Gene Wilder may be gone, Willy Wonka never would be. I can still close my eyes, make a wish and dream, I can be free in my imagination as long as I wish to be._

_So, thank you, Mr. Wilder, for leading us on a wonderful adventure and giving so many children the courage to explore their Pure Imagination._

"Well? What do you think?" Rory asked nervously.

Logan put the pages down and looked at Rory, "It was great."

"Really?" Rory said relieved. "I wasn't sure if it was too much for my first piece, but I do know that these types of pieces require a certain type of self-reflection in the article. Do you think it's long enough? I know that Op-Ed's aren't very long but I still feel like I skimped out."

"No, it's great. It is a little on the short side, but I think for your first piece it's fine. You aren't going to overwhelm the readers right away, but it's long enough to show that it's worth reading. It'll also show the readers that the section has some new blood and making the section worth reading."

"That's what I was going for so I'm glad you like it." Rory said happily as she stood up and went into the kitchen and started pulling a few things out of the cupboard, startling Logan. Rory didn't cook and was confused to watch her move around the kitchen like she was going to cook something.

"Hey, Ace?"

"Yeah," Rory said distractedly.

"Whatcha doing?"

The tone of Logan's voice caught her attention and Rory glanced over at him. "I'll have you know that I am perfectly capable of making spaghetti thank you very much." Rory harrumphed as she pointedly went about making dinner.

Logan watched on amused thinking that he would happily watch her slam around the kitchen the rest of his life, he decided just to enjoy the moment and hoping that he had similar moments for the rest of his life.

* * *

**AN: I have learned that writing an Op-Ed from someone else's perspective is remarkably difficult! **

**Again, if you could vote in my poll I'd appreciate it. Go to my profile page and right at the top of the page, it should have an option to vote in the poll.**

**Review if you please!**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: You guys! I want to thank all of you who take the time to read my story and tell me how much you appreciate it. I love you guys so much!**

**So you can't have a post-revival fic without Christmas with the Gilmore's! Not much happens in this chapter but the sub-text is important for something that comes later. So read on for A LOT of Christmas fluff. **

**On with the show!**

* * *

Rory was standing in the gazebo looking around Stars Hollow's town square admiring the view. She loved Stars Hollow at Christmas, it always felt like what she imagined Santa's Village to be like. The lights, the decorations, the snow and just the feel in the air provided a Christmas cheer that she had never found anywhere else. There wasn't anything wrong with Christmas in Brooklyn, they were just as festive as the next person, but it just wasn't the same.

"Rory!" Lane shrieked across the square getting her attention.

"Lane!" The two collided in a hug not far from the gazebo. Lane had always been a freakishly fast runner, Rory had never been as fast as Lane and pregnancy didn't help any.

"Oh my god!" Lane yelped when she got a good look at Rory. "You look pregnant! You didn't look like that the last time I saw you!"

"Yeah, I know. I woke up the other day and there it was!" Rory grinned a little as she remembered Logan's excitement over her fuller baby bump.

"So, we know Logan's excited, what else do we know?" Lane asked excitedly.

"Well, his mother is NOT excited and said some nasty things when she found out. Luckily Logan sat her down and actually threatened to cut her off and kick her out of the Hartford House if she didn't behave."

Lane's mouth dropped open in shock when she heard that. "Whoa. Are you kidding?"

"No. The house is in his name. Don't ask, society politics."

"Wow, how'd she take that?"

"Well she asked if we were going to get married as if it was the most ridiculous idea ever, and he said yes."

Lane was stunned by this and gaped like a goldfish for a few seconds. "Lane? Are you in there?"

"Oh my god!" Lane shrieked. "That's amazing! Way to bury the lead! Where's the ring?" Lane demanded as she picked up Rory's hand to look for the ring.

Rory just laughed before answering. "I don't have one yet, He hasn't proposed, but we talked about it and we both want to get married. I just didn't want to rush into anything because of the mess we made." Lane nodded along in agreement after Rory spoke.

"You guys did make a mess, a really big mess, but you're cleaning it up and you deserve to be happy, no matter the size of the mess."

Rory smiled at her friend and then hugged her. "Thanks, Lane."

"So," Lane said conspiratorially when they pulled apart. "How have things been since we last spoke? It feels like forever!"

"Lane," Rory chuckled at her friend's dramatics. "It was less than two weeks since I saw you last. We went further without speaking when I was freelancing."

"True, but still, I want details!"

"Ok, ok. Well, work's been great. I love being in the newsroom again, even if I'm on a different floor, I have one permanent staff member and a potential new hire. I had my first piece published Monday and it got a lot of positive feedback, one of the staff members gave me a bit of a lecture on what type of articles I should write first, and I'm glad I listened to her." At Lane's confused expression Rory elaborated. "I was going to start with a piece about Donald Trump but Charlotte, the Opinions staff writer, suggested I start with something less high profile, and I'm glad I listened to her. I'm finally starting to feel like myself again and I feel like I've been brought back to life."

"That's great Ror. You were drifting there for a while like Paul Walker level drifting, you seem more centred now."

"I feel more centred," Rory said contently.

"Please don't tell me you've turned into a work-o-holic! I want to know about you and Logan." Lane said nearly bouncing with excitement.

"We went out on a date on Friday night." Lane let out a little squeal much to Rory's amusement.

"Somewhere fabulous?"

"It was super sweet. We went to this small romantic restaurant in Greenwich, the food was delicious, we talked and flirted, it was nice. Then we took a carriage ride around Central Park."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I know right," Rory said with a fond smile.

"I've always wanted to do that."

"Me too. The last time I rode in a horse-drawn carriage it didn't go very well, and he said that he hoped that this time I would have better memories of this ride. Which I do, trust me." Lane smirked at that and Rory quickly went to correct her assumption. "Oh, no! That's not what I meant! It was just sweet and romantic. Nothing dirty."

Lane laughed at her friend's horror. "Really, Rory? I thought that being with Logan would loosen you up a bit."

"Anyway!" Rory said, changing the subject. "Oh! I got a new car."

"Really? Awe, poor Betsy."

"It was time. She put herself out to pasture in the middle of my drive home last Friday."

"Oh shit."  
"Yeah, I was going to trade her in any way, it was just the final push I needed."

"It was time. Gypsy spent as much time keeping poor Betsy running then your mom's SUV."

"I know, and now that I'll be using it consistently, so I need a car that works."

"Fair enough. So, what are you doing here on the 23rd? I know Lorelai left for Nantucket yesterday, and I thought you'd be heading up there too."

Rory let out a dramatic sigh before speaking. "Since we're spending Christmas with my family, we had to go to the Huntzberger's for dinner tonight."

Lane understood completely. "Zach and I do something similar since we live here and spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Mama and Papa, we go to Zach's parents for Christmas dinner. It's not a big deal since they're over in Waterbury."

"At least they're not in Woodbury, Taylor would probably have you all drawn and quartered for having the gull to know people in Woodbury."

Lane laughed at the idea of Taylor being so enraged at the thought of them knowing people in Woodbury. "Don't tell him that Miss Patty is dating the Woodbury dance teacher." Lane said with a smile.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Since when?"

"We don't know. Mama told me that 'Miss Patty was sinning with Mr. Bobby in their café' I don't know what that means, but with Mama, it can't be any good."

Rory let out peals of laughter at the whole situation. "Oh my god. There's a husband number seven!"

"I can't wait for the wedding!" The two giggled for a bit before speaking. "How was Christmas dinner with the Huntzberger's?"

"Not too bad actually. Honour was hosting it at her house, and everyone was relatively civilized. Shira was forced to be on her best behaviour since she was a guest in someone else's house and Honour is thrilled for Logan and me, I'm actually surprised she didn't trot out wedding plans while we were there." Lane laughed a little at the image before Rory spoke again. "Josh, Honour's husband, was really nice. The best part was to see Logan interacting with his niece and nephews. The boys were playing some crazy game with trucks and dinosaurs that I never fully understood but Logan was down on the floor with them for a while, and this was AFTER he held the baby for twenty minutes. I knew he'd be a good dad, if nothing else it would be so he didn't turn into Mitchum, but I didn't realize how GOOD he was with kids." Lane smiled at Rory and gave her a knowing look as she got lost in the memory of Logan holding his niece. "What?" She said once she realized that Lane was staring at her.

"Your mommy hormones are going wacko."

Rory smirked guiltily, "Yeah, maybe a little."

"Other than that, how was Shira?"

"Oh, the usual, she smoked a pack of cigarettes every time Logan and I acted like a couple."

"So, a pack every 5 minutes?"

Rory smiled a little, they had laid it on a little thick to irritate Shira. "Exactly. The weird part was that Josh was able to handle her. When I first met him, he looked like he was about to be executed, but he managed to keep Shira in line."

Lane nodded in agreement, "It takes time to learn how to deal with the crazy in-laws."

"Well, I'm hoping I'll figure it out sooner rather than later. I took Shira down a peg last time, but I didn't this time. I didn't think I had too, so I left it alone."

"You don't have to go in guns-a-blazin' every time, save it for when you need it. If they know all your tricks, it's not as fun." Lane said with a smile.

"Right, we all need some secrets." Rory grinned when Lane nodded emphatically. "So, we've talked a lot about me, what's going on with you?" Rory said excitedly.

"Well-" Lane then launched into a diatribe about the headaches that come from raising two boys. Rory shook her head and thought about how she couldn't wait for the same chaos to start in her life.

* * *

"Rory! Logan! It's so wonderful to see you again!" Emily nearly squealed, startling everyone. Rory laughed at her grandma's excitement and hugged her before Logan took her place and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hi, Grandma. It's good to see you too." Rory was stripping out of her outer layer and was trying to quickly extract herself from the situation. She was exhausted from the long car ride, and for some reason was dizzy, between the two she desperately wanted to lay down and take a nap.

"Hi, Rory." Rory heard Lorelai speak and she knew that she wouldn't be getting her nap any time soon. When Logan noticed what was happening, he quickly went to Rory's side and pulled her close. He knew what happened the last time Rory and Lorelai were in the same room together, and he didn't want Rory to experience that at all, but if Lorelai blew, he was going to support Rory through it.

"Hi, mom," Rory said as pleasantly as possible. She knew that if she dug her heels in and fought her mom too hard they'd have another falling out, and she was trying to avoid that this time.

"Hi, Lorelai," Logan said, deciding to take his lead from Rory. If she wanted to kill her with kindness he was more then willing to help.

Lorelai looked at Logan with disapproval before smiling sadly at her daughter. "Wow, look at you," Lorelai said sadly.

"Oh, I know," Rory said with a smile and tightened her shirt around her middle to show off her baby bump. Logan grinned, he was glad that she was excited to show off her bump and loved when she did. "I've gotten bigger the last few weeks; it was as if I woke up one morning and it was just there. I now know what people mean when they say that they popped. I like it though; people have stopped thinking that I'm just fat."

"How are you feeling?" Lorelai asked sincerely. "I was hungry all the time and would get these splitting headaches. Though I'm not sure if they were from the pregnancy or your grandma yelling at me."

Rory cocked her eyebrows at her mom but decided to ignore the slight dig at Emily. "I'm feeling a lot better than I was. I'm not throwing up every twenty minutes anymore and I don't need to nap so much which is nice."

Lorelai smiled awkwardly; she didn't know how to feel about the fact that she was essentially making small talk with her daughter. She glanced out the window and saw the new SUV sitting out front instead of Rory's old Prius, she knew that Rory's car wasn't reliable anymore, but she didn't like the idea of her trading up as well. "Hey, where's your Prius?" Lorelai tried to say friendly, but it came out snippier than she'd like.

"It's in the shop. It died when I was on my way home from work the other day." Logan looked at Rory confused, and Rory just shook her head, not wanting to get into an argument with her mom about a car on Christmas Eve.

"I guess you finally traded in your Porsche, huh?" Lorelai said condescendingly to Logan.

Logan was startled by the strange turn the conversation took but answered the question, "Yes, I did." Knowing that Rory didn't want to get into with Lorelai he omitted the fact that he traded in his top of the line, two-seater sports car for a more functional BMW Sedan and the SUV parked outside was, in fact, Rory's.

"Finally realized that an expensive car isn't the only way to charm a girl?" Lorelai said patronizingly.

"Mom!" Rory nearly shrieked.

Logan pulled Rory closer and tried to calm her down. "It's fine Rory." Logan looked back at Lorelai. "You're right Lorelai, it's not the only way to charm a girl, but after a point, a sports car like that isn't practical anymore." Logan paused before speaking again. "The majority of my money I inherited; I won't deny it." Lorelai looked at Logan smugly, but Logan spoke before she could say anything. "But I was able to make a lot of money on my own, at my own company and I was the one who brought my family's company back from the edge of oblivion. I worked hard and was able to make my own name for myself. So, yes, I drive an expensive car, I can afford it and I think I deserve it."

Lorelai glared at Logan while Rory was impressed by Logan standing up to her mother. Previously he would have just taken the verbal barrage but this change made her think that he really had what it took to be in this now, if he didn't feel threatened by every half-assed comment she knew that she could trust him.

Rory sighed tiredly then sagged a little against Logan, the exhaustion hitting her full force and Logan shifted all his attention on to her. "Rory, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, I'm just exhausted and the baby is using my bladder as a toy," Rory responded. Logan let out a little chuckle and kissed the top of her head.

"You go and lay down and I'll bring in the luggage, ok?" Rory hummed in agreement before heading to the guest room Emily pointed to.

When Logan headed out to the car Lorelai turned and followed Rory to the bedroom. Lorelai came in as Rory was coming out of the bathroom. She sat down and pulled off her shoes and since she was wearing leggings and an old Yale sweatshirt, she was able to crawl into bed right away.

"Hey, sweets," Lorelai said from the doorway.

"Hi mom," Rory looked at Lorelai confused. "Did you need something?"

Lorelai began to speak then decided against it. She didn't want to get into a fight with her on Christmas Eve, and knowing them it would spill over into Christmas Day and further. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok." She said with a small smile.

"Oh, I'm fine. I'm just exhausted. Six hours in a car at 15 weeks pregnant is harder then it sounds." Rory said with a tired smile. Lorelai couldn't help but notice that even in her tired state, Rory was happy.

"Ok, do you need anything?" Lorelai said apprehensively.

"No, thanks though. If I need anything, I'll ask Logan." Lorelai sagged at that comment, she realized that she wasn't the most important person in Rory's life anymore, and that hurt more than anything else.

"Ok, if you hear me yell 'apples' come rescue me from my mother," Lorelai said with a smile.

"Really?" Rory said with mock disbelief.

"Yes! The last time we were alone together I seriously debated setting something on fire."

Rory just shook her head and laughed. "Ok, I'll keep an ear out."

"Just an ear?" Lorelai said hopefully. She hoped that she might be able to convince Rory to come out so that she wouldn't have to be alone with Emily.

"Just an ear," Rory said forcefully. "I'm taking a nap, then I'll run interference with grandma."

Lorelai sighed dramatically, "Alright kid, enjoy your nap, I'll talk to you later."

Rory stared after Lorelai as she left, the conversation had been odd, but she was too exhausted to try and sort it all out. Instead, she snuggled down into the bed to take a long-awaited nap.

* * *

Rory and Logan were fast asleep, enjoying the chance to sleep in when suddenly the bedroom door banged open and Lorelai bounced in. "Rory! Wake up! It's Christmas! It's time for presents!" Rory groaned as Lorelai happily yelled some more then came over to try and pull her from the bed to get her downstairs faster. "My god you're heavy! See I told you that healthy food wasn't good for you!" Logan, whose eyes were still closed and pretended to be asleep, smirked at Lorelai's antics.

"Mom," Rory groaned. "Why don't you go start the coffee maker and let Paul Anka out, and I'll be downstairs by the time you have your first cup,"

"Ok!" Lorelai said with a bounce. "Hurry up loin fruit! Paul Anka! Come here baby, mommy's going to take you for a walk so we can open presents!" They heard Lorelai shriek from somewhere in the house.

Rory groaned and buried her face in Logan's chest, while he burst out laughing. "What is so funny?" Rory growled from her position.

"How much coffee does she have in her?"

Rory groaned and checked the time. "None. Luke doesn't let her have any during 'sleeping time'. She gets really hyped up on Christmas morning and bounces through the day even on no coffee."

Logan chuckled a little and pulled her closer. "We'll have to get used to that, any child of ours will bounce their way through Christmas morning too."

Rory smiled a little at the thought of a little girl with blue eyes and blond curls leaping on to their bed on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought her. "As long as they stop before they're fifty, I'm ok with that."

"Rory," Rory hummed in response. "Merry Christmas."

Rory shifted so she could look up at him and smiled. "Merry Christmas Logan."

"And Merry Christmas to you too," Logan said sweetly as he lightly rubbed her belly.

Before Rory could react they heard Lorelai shriek "LOIN FRUIT! LET'S GO! COFFEE'S ON AND PRESENTS AWAIT!" Rory groaned while Logan burst out laughing.

"Did she really get the coffee going and Paul Anka dealt within five minutes?" Logan asked in disbelief.

"Never underestimate the power of Lorelai Gilmore on Christmas morning," Rory stated, which just made Logan laugh harder.

Ten minutes later the two made their way into the living room where Emily and Lorelai were mid-battle. "Lorelai, you can't just go around shrieking at 6 in the morning!"

"Oh, come on, Mom! It's Christmas! And you're normally up by now anyway."

"I may be awake, but no one goes screaming through the house this early unless there's a disaster or you are a small child. You are neither, so stop behaving like a child. And what are you wearing?" Though Emily had essentially given up all parts of society life, she was still dressed the part in a sweater set and trousers. While Lorelai was wearing footsie pyjamas that resembled a festive patchwork quilt.

"It's festive," Lorelai said happily.

"It's crazy."

"Rory!" Lorelai yelped when she spotted Rory and Logan watching the display. "What are you wearing?" Lorelai said confused when she noticed Rory's outfit.

"Sorry mom, they don't make crazy Christmas pyjamas for pregnant women. You'll just have to survive with me in regular pyjamas."

"Merry Christmas Rory," Emily said when she hugged Rory.

"Merry Christmas, Grandma. Are you ok?" Rory asked quietly. This was the first Christmas without Richard and Rory knew that Emily must be hurting.

"I'll be alright. Richard always liked Christmas and he wouldn't want me to be sad the whole day." Emily said with a sad smile. "Also, your mother provides a nice distraction." Rory nodded as they looked over to see Lorelai rummaging under the Christmas tree, picking out her gifts.

"Present time!" Lorelai nearly shrieked from her spot on the floor.

"So," Logan said once he sat down next to Rory. "Are we doing this in an orderly fashion or is it a free-for-all?"

"Organized fashion." Emily said at the same time Lorelai said "Free-for-all!"

Rory sighed while Logan looked at the two elder Gilmore's. "Right, I think a more organized way might be better."

"Oh, come on, Evil Spawn, you don't have a say here." Lorelai snipped at Logan.

"Mom! Be nice." Rory chastised Lorelai. "Considering this is Grandma's house, let's do it her way." Lorelai stared at Rory for a moment before giving in.

Logan smirked as Lorelai calmed down a little and settled into the Christmas morning pandemonium that can't really be avoided no matter how much you try.

* * *

"Here you go, Grandma," Rory said as she placed a box in Emily's lap. "Don't shake the box, what's inside will break."

"Oh, Rory. What did you do?" Emily said curiously.

"You're just going to have to open it to see."

Emily opened her present to reveal a lovely set of crystal champagne saucers with a Lismore pattern engraved on the side.

"Oh my god," Emily said softly as her eyes started welling up with tears. "Rory, where did you find these?"

"They aren't the originals; I couldn't figure out where they had gone so I thought a new set would be the next best thing."

"Thank you, Rory."

"What's going on?" Luke said confused.

"Grandma had a set of champagne saucers like those in Hartford and they were a wedding present."

"One of Richard's favourites," Emily added in.

"Grandma got rid of them during her Marie Kondo inspired cleanout. I figured she'd like a replacement set."

"And you were right," Emily said happily. "Thank you so much, Rory." Emily moved to give Rory a bone-crushing hug.

"You're very welcome Grandma."

Lorelai was baffled by the display in front of her. She had assumed that Rory would be as out of her depth as she was in what to get Emily for Christmas. Emily hadn't liked Lorelai's present at all and had scolded her for getting whale themed garbage cans for someone's present. Rory, on the other hand, had seemingly bought the perfect present and Lorelai didn't like that one bit.

Once Grandma and Granddaughter had pulled themselves together Emily handed Rory a present. "Here you go, Rory." The package wasn't very large, but Rory was very curious as to its contents.

"Thanks, Grandma." Rory happily tore into the package to reveal a jewelry case. Rory popped open the lid to reveal a diamond necklace and matching earrings. Rory and Lorelai were speechless, though for very different reasons, and Emily launched into an explanation. "This was the necklace and earrings that you wore at the party that your Grandfather and I had when you were in your second year at Yale."

After a beat of silence, Rory spoke. "The 'Yale Male Party?"

"Wait, you mean the meat market where Dean broke up with you?" Logan interjected.

"Yes, that one!" Emily chirped. Everyone turned and stared at her baffled, but she happily kept talking. "I don't have much use for these anymore and I thought you might like to have them."

"Thanks, Grandma," Rory said haltingly. It wasn't that she didn't like the present, but she wasn't thrilled with the idea of having something to remind her of that strange night.

"Anyway!" Lorelai clapped her hands, breaking the odd feeling that had descended on the group. "My turn!" Lorelai pulled out a flat square package and tore into it, without reading the gift tag.

"OH MY GOD!" Lorelai shrieked. "A Go-Go's album! This is amazing! And it's signed by Belinda! Rory! How'd you find this?!" Lorelai yelled and pulled Rory into a hug, almost knocking her over in the process.

"I found it in a record store in Manhattan. That was actually supposed to be your graduation present, but I lost it on my way home."

"This is awesome, Rory! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, mom." Rory smiled as she sat down next to Logan and more presents were opened. Rory got a box set of The Office, the British version, from Logan with a whispered promise that better presents were coming. And a brand new messenger bag from Luke, Luke didn't know someone could get so excited over a briefcase from Staples. Logan opened a cute hinged picture frame that he swore was going on his desk at work as soon as he got some pictures to put in the frames Luke got an apron that read 'Kiss the cook' from Lorelai and a new four-slice, commercial pop up toaster from Logan and Rory.

"How'd you know what to get him?" Lorelai whispered to Rory as Luke happily started tinkering with his new toy.

"I called and asked him what he wanted," Rory said like it was the simplest idea on the planet. Lorelai sighed and flopped back a bit.

Logan was handed a stack of three books from Rory that were tied together with a ribbon. "I'm still not smart enough for you?" Logan joked before inspecting the titles. He quickly realized that they were all books for soon to be dads.

"I know you aren't as big on research as I am, but I figured that you'd want some reference material for this," Rory said with an impish grin.

Logan quickly untied the ribbon and scanned the backs of the books. "These are great. Thanks, Ace."

A while later Rory was handed an envelope from Emily and when she opened, she let out a little gasp. "Are you serious?"

"I am. I wasn't able to wrap it and put it under the tree, so I hope that is ok."

"Ok!, Grandma, this is amazing!"

"What? Did you get her a new car?" Lorelai snipped from her space on the couch.

"No, Lorelai. I didn't get her a new car. I don't have space, or the need to keep Richard's entire book collection so I'm giving most of it to Rory. Everything I want to keep I have here so everything else is hers for the taking."

"Wait, so if the collection's not here, where is it?" Logan interjected.

"Storage," Emily said sadly. "The house needed to be emptied, and I didn't want to bring the entire collection here when there was no proper place to put them." She directed her next statement to Rory. "The official gift is the collection but you can take almost anything from the storage locker that you'd like."

Rory smiled sadly and promptly burst into tears. "Thank you, Grandma. Thank you so much. I'm so glad that you trust me with such an important piece of him." She sobbed out before squeezing her Grandma in a tight hug.

"Of course, Rory. He would have wanted you to have it. I don't think he would've trusted anyone else with the books."

Rory eventually calmed down enough to sit down next to Logan and he just held her while she rode out her meltdown.

Once Rory calmed down completely Logan separated himself and pulled a large box towards them. "I've got one last present for you, and I'm really hoping that it doesn't make you cry."

Rory laughed a little before opening the wrapping. "Wait?" Rory said confused. "Is this-"

"Honour swears that this bassinet is a must-have for all new moms. You can put it right next to the bed and it spins, so it can come closer, so you don't have to fumble around trying to get the baby in the middle of the night. It has these mesh walls, so you can see right through it and it vibrates and makes soothing noises that are supposed to keep the baby calm." Rory gaped at Logan amazed that he thought to get something for the baby at this point. Lane practically had to bash Zach's head in before he realized that you can't strap a baby to the roof of the car. "I also did some research and a lot of people agree with Honour. I know I didn't get the most exciting colour, but I figured this way we won't need to exchange it because I bought a blue one instead of a pink one." Logan went to talk some more but was cut off by Rory giving him an enthusiastic kiss. Rory vaguely registered Lorelai making a gross comment and her grandma telling her off, but she didn't care about any of it. All she cared about was this man, who cared enough about her and their baby to buy something that wouldn't be needed for six months but would be a great addition that she probably wouldn't have thought of.

"Thank you. I love it."

"You sure?" Logan said a little concerned.

"Absolutely" Rory smiled then kissed him again, ignoring everything else going on around them.

* * *

Rory had rushed off to the washroom and returned in time for Logan to open her last gift to him. "What on earth is this?" Logan said as he dragged the tall and rectangular-shaped package away from the tree.

"Oh, that's my last gift for you."

"What did you do?" Logan asked as he tore away the wrapping to show a painting of a TV set from the 1960s in the corner of a living room with the title screen of The Twilight Zone on the TV. "Ace, this is awesome. Where did you find it?"

"You can find amazing things off the internet," Rory said cryptically. "I thought you could use something to brighten up your office. I know that your dad went towards intimidating with his pictures of Ronald Reagan, George Bush and the newspaper clippings, but I thought you might go for something a little more whimsical." Rory said with a smile.

Logan couldn't help but laugh at Rory's statement. "I love it, thanks Ace."

Once Logan maneuvered the painting out of the way Emily handed a delicately wrapped and flimsy small package. "I found this when I was permanently clearing out the Hartford house, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it, and I did save it for when you got older and now I have a good reason to give it to you."

Rory looked at Emily confused. "Grandma, what are you talking about?"

"Just open it." Emily gestured to the package and Rory removed the delicate tissue paper to reveal a baby-sized white gown with a lace layer, capped sleeves, and a satin ribbon with a white flower with beads in the centre, and a matching bonnet. "What the-?" Rory said baffled.

"It was your Christening outfit. I always planned on giving it to you when you got older so you could use it for your daughter." Rory gently ran her fingers across the delicate lace as Emily spoke. "You don't have to use it for its exact purpose if you don't want to, your mother thought the whole thing was ridiculous, but I couldn't let it waste away."

Rory was tearing up as she inspected the beautiful gown in her lap. This was her child's first gift and the idea that her child was loved and wanted by more than just her filled her with indescribable joy. "Thank you so much, Grandma," Rory said tearfully as she hugged Emily.

"You're very welcome, Rory."

Lorelai watched as her mother and daughter talked happily and Emily told a more in-depth history of the dress. Lorelai couldn't bear to watch so she slipped from the room under the excuse that she needed some more caffeine.

* * *

"Rory, this one is for you," Emily said when she picked up the final present, a dense square package wrapped in beautiful silver wrapping paper.

Rory took the offered gift and inspected it looking for the tag when she found it, she smiled at the gifter before speaking. "Another one? Thank you, Logan."

"Open it, Ace. I think you'll like it." Logan said conspiratorially.

Rory looked at Logan suspiciously before opening the present. Pulling back the paper revealed a red leather case with two books inside, both bound in red Morocco leather with gold lettering and small animals along the side.

Rory pulled out one of the books to get a better look, once she read the front page, she looked at Logan in shock. "Oh my god, I can't believe you did this," Rory said in amazement.

"Well, I knew that you always wanted a copy and when I saw these, I knew that you'd love them," Logan said sweetly.

Rory laughed then kissed him quickly with a big grin on her face. "Thank you, Logan," Rory said seriously.

"You're welcome."

Their little moment was broken by Lorelei speaking up. Rory was impressed that she had held her tongue as long as she had. "What'd you get, kid?" Lorelai said without her usual gusto.

Rory grinned and happily displayed the gift for everyone to see. "It's first edition copies of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. These were published in the 1860s, and for them both to be in such good condition is amazing." Rory looked at Logan and silently asked him how he managed to find the books.

"There's a rare book dealer in London who I got to know while I was over there, I gave him a call the week you started at The Post and asked if he had any first editions of Alice in Wonderland. He first gave me a lecture on the difference between a first edition and a first circulated edition, but then he told me that he had a boxed set of both books, and they were both first editions, in near perfect condition and were both beautifully illustrated." Rory flipped through one of the books and was amazed at the quality of the pictures inside.

"This is amazing, thank you so much, Logan," Rory said with a grin.

Before anyone could say anything, Lorelai jumped in, "Wow Logan, that is amazing." Lorelai said snidely. "How much did that cost?"

Rory's eyes went wide at the comment, but Logan refused to back down and answered the question without flinching. "Close to £4,500. That equals about $5,600. Almost mint condition books from the Victorian Era cost quite a bit of money Lorelai."

Lorelai glared at Logan for a minute before turning her attention to Rory. "Why'd he even buy you those? I know you didn't read those books, so I don't understand why you're so excited." Lorelai said confused.

"I did read the books when I was a kid. Grandma gave me a copy when we were at one of her Christmas parties when I was about eight." Lorelai stared dumbfounded at her daughter as she kept speaking. "They quickly became my favourite and I told Logan how much I loved the books and how I always considered them my first real connection to Grandma." Lorelai stared at Rory as she thought back to the day she got her first copy of Alice in Wonderland.

_[Flashback]_

_Rory was hiding in her moms' old room at her grandparent's house. It was their annual Christmas party and as the adults were chatting away and her mom bounced between mocking everyone in sight and the apple tarts, Rory had slipped away to read. She knew that no one would care that she had disappeared, these parties were incredibly boring and once she felt she had appropriately charmed her grandparent's friends, she had snuck off to read. She had brought her worn copy of The Wizard of Oz and was happily reading about Dorothy and the Yellow Brick Road when the bedroom door opened. _

_"Oh, Rory dear, here you are. I was looking for you." Emily had noticed that Rory had disappeared from the party over half an hour ago and had wanted to make sure that she was alright. "What are you doing?" Emily said calmly. According to Lorelai she was cold and treated everyone like they were the scum of the earth, including her own child, but she had a soft spot for Rory._

_"I'm sorry grandma, but I thought that once I'd said hello to everyone I could slip away as long as I didn't disturb anyone. I was going to come down just before 7 and be there for dinner." Rory pleaded._

_"It's alright, Rory." Emily glanced towards the television set expecting to see one of Lorelai's old videos playing and was surprised to see it untouched. When she turned back to Rory she realized that there was a book open in her lap. Lorelai hadn't been much of a reader and Emily was pleased to see that Lorelai hadn't passed that on. "I'm surprised you aren't watching TV." _

_"My mom loves watching TV and movies but I prefer to read. I can take my books anywhere but I can't take a TV with me." Rory said with a smile._

_"You're right about that Rory." Emily looked at the worn-out book in Rory's hands and wanted to know more about her granddaughter now that she had a moment alone with her. "What are you reading?"_

_"Oh!" Rory said excitedly. "It's a great story called The Wizard of Oz. It's about a girl named Dorothy who lives on a farm in Kansas and she dreams of leaving the farm someday, then while she's sleeping a twister lifts her home of the ground and takes it to the land of Oz!" Rory says emphatically, Emily smiled at the girl's enthusiasm and let her ramble. "The house falls and to the Wicked Witch of the East killing her! The Good Witch of the North takes the Wicked Witch's shoes and gives them to Dorothy, who really wants to go home. The Good Witch says she can't help her but knows someone who can. The Great and Powerful Oz! He lives in the Emerald City, but the Good Witch can't go there so she goes with her dog, Toto. They meet a Lion, a tinman and a Scarecrow who all decide to go to see the Wizard who doesn't want to help. He says that if they go and kill the Wicked Witch of the West he'll help, they go off and try to kill her but they get captured instead. Eventually, Dorothy escapes and KILLS the Witch by dumping cold water on her. She frees everyone, including the flying monkeys that captured her, and they all go back to the Emerald City to demand the Wizard help them. But, it turns out the Wizard isn't a wizard and just flew in on a hot air balloon from Nebraska by accident! He says that if they visit the Good Witch of the South, Glinda, she might be able to help. When they get there she tells Dorothy that she can get home if she asks the shoes to take her home and she goes home in three steps, THREE." Rory took a breath and smiled at her amused grandmother. "Have you ever read it, grandma?" _

_"Yes, I have. A long time ago." Emily said and was thrilled when Rory beamed at her. "Rory, would you like something different to read?" _

_"Really? I would love something new to read!" _

_Emily chuckled at Rory's enthusiasm and nodded. "Aright, you wait here and I'll be right back." Rory nodded excitedly before Emily left the room. Emily gracefully made her way back downstairs and mingled her way through the main floor, towards Richards office, she almost got there when she heard the sound of Lorelai giggling. Emily stopped to get a better sense of what her daughter was doing, it didn't take long for to realize that Lorelai was flirting heavily with this man, and even Emily could tell that this wasn't a 'take-me-out-to-dinner-I'd-like-to-get-to-know-you-better' type of flirts, this was an 'I-want-to-take-you-home-then-sneak-you-out-of-my-house-before-my-daughter-wakes-up' flirt. Emily just rolled her eyes realizing that while Lorelai was focused on this man, her daughter had been hiding upstairs for nearly an hour. Emily rolled her eyes and couldn't help but think it was a miracle that Rory hadn't been left in a bucket while Lorelai had been flirting her way backstage. Emily headed into Richard's office, grabbed the book of the shelf and went back upstairs to Rory._

_"Here you go," Emily said as she handed a book with a blond girl in a blue dress and white apron, walking through the woods and a rabbit in a green and red suit and a man with a large top hat on the cover. _

_"__Alice in Wonderland?" Rory asked, looking at her grandma in awe._

_"It was one of my favourites as a girl, and I think you'll enjoy it. Alice's adventures are similar to Dorothy'__s." _

_"Thank you, grandma!" Rory eagerly opened the book and almost started reading before suddenly looking at the time. It dawned on Emily that Rory brought The Wizard of Oz because she'd be less likely to get pulled too far into it and remember to come down to dinner._

_"__Don't worry, I'll come and get you just before dinner, so you won't miss it. Which will be in about half an hour." _

_"Thank you, grandma!" Rory quickly hugged Emily before settling herself on the bed again and getting lost in the story of Alice. _

_"You're welcome, Rory." Emily smiled as she made her way from the room, as she headed back downstairs, she briefly thought that maybe there was hope for her relationship with her granddaughter and that things will be different this time._

_[End Flashback]_

Lorelai looked over the pile of gifts at her daughter's feet and noticed that her presents stood out from the rest. The Hello Kitty office supplies and the lamp of a dog pooping seemed out of place next to the high-end bassinet, DVDs and first editions that Logan bought her and the diamond earrings, matching necklace, part of Richard's library and Christening outfit that Emily had given her. Even Luke seemed to have read the situation better then she did, and he got Rory a brand new leather messenger bag. It was 30% off at Staples but it still was more fitting than her gifts. She frowned as she realized that Rory was becoming more a part of the world that she had run away from.

* * *

"Rory, dear," Emily said suddenly breaking the silence that had descended over everyone. "I read your articles in the Daily Post, they were well done. I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you, grandma," Rory said happily

"You're welcome, Rory. They were well written, well researched and the article on Gene Wilder was very touching. I must say, it took me a minute to find it though."

Logan switched from family man to businessman when he heard this. "Why?" He demanded, it was gentler than Mitchum but it was still a demand. "Was it not laid out properly? Did it get put on the wrong page? Or in the wrong section?" Rory put her hand on Logan's arm to get him to focus, and just like that he slipped back into his family man persona. "I'm sorry Emily. While I was hesitant to go into the family business when I was young, I am very passionate about my work and I want to be a success."

"That's alright, Logan," Emily said. "Richard was passionate as well and he'd often storm into his office, determined to solve a business problem in the middle of dinner if a problem was discovered when he was at home." Emily smiled fondly. "It was laid out perfectly fine, and it was on the front page of the section, exactly where it was supposed to be so don't worry Logan. The reason why I couldn't find it at first was that I was expecting it to be under Rory Gilmore, instead, it was published under R. Hayden. I missed it my first round through, it was a good thing you let me know the title."

Everyone looked at Rory with a combination of shock and confusion. "Sweets, why'd you change your writing name?" Lorelai said harshly. She was glaring at Logan, convinced that it was somehow his fault.

"Yeah, Ace. Why?" Logan said much calmer then Lorelai but still confused.

Rory took a deep breath and launched into her ramble. Logan knew what was about to happen as soon as she went to explain, so he dropped his arm across the back of her chair for support. "Well, I was talking to Josh, the editor in chief, during my first week at the office and I realized after the first staff meeting just how much trouble I was going to have as soon as people realize my connection to you. Everyone was friendly and treated me well enough but they were standoff-ish until I proved myself. I knew that this was just going to get worse once our relationship became public and after Logan and I get married." They heard Lorelai scoff in annoyance at the prospect of them getting married, but Rory decided to ignore it and keep going. "I was talking to Josh and he commented that since I hadn't published anything at the paper yet, I didn't have to use my name in the bylines. I knew that my relationship with Logan would cause me some trouble but this could easily go beyond our office, so I thought using a pseudonym would be a good idea. R. Hayden is close enough that people would still be able to find it if they're looking for my work but is far enough away from my legal name that my professional life can stay slightly separate from private life. The new name will give me a fresh start in journalism, I've been bogged down for so long and my work is tainted by my inconsistent work and inability to land a full-time job, the change lets me gain the type of respect that I wasn't going to get with my old name. Plus, the name I published under before wasn't my legal name anyway so it doesn't matter." Rory tensed a bit as she prepared herself with what she was going to say next. Logan gave her an awkward squeeze when he felt her tense but didn't ask any questions, knowing she was going to continue. "Then when we get married and I change my last name it'll be completely separate and no one will know at first and my work can speak for itself for the most part."

Everyone stared at Rory in shock for a moment, stunned at the bomb she just dropped. To no one's shock, it was Lorelai that spoke first. "You have GOT to be kidding me!" Lorelai hollered breaking the silence. "Rory, what the hell are you thinking! You always said that you'd never change your name if you got married, and now you're doing everything you swore against!"

"No, mom!" Rory cut off Lorelai's tirade before she could get going. "I'm doing everything you swore off! I have nothing against women taking their husband's last name, sure I never thought I'd do it but I want to take his name, I don't want there to be any confusion around who I am to him and our kids. I want us to be seen as a family, and honestly, I just want to do it. I know it's different, and not what you want for me, but this is my decision. So, please just don't mention it anymore." Everyone was amazed at how Rory shut down her mother. Lorelai was a difficult woman to mollify and rarely conceded to anyone, but when she noticed the harsh look she was receiving from Rory and others, she admitted defeat and focused on the food in front of her instead.

The silence stretched on for a few minutes before Logan turned to speak to Rory, he knew that it wasn't quite the right place to bring it up, but after Rory's speech, he couldn't help himself. "You're thinking about changing your name?" Logan asked, baffled.

"Yeah. I know that certain people will expect me to take your last name and that it's expected in society that your wife takes your name, but this isn't about that, not really. The fact that it'll placate some of the more hostile people we interact with is just a bonus. I want to take your name, I like the idea of being Rory Huntzberger. When I thought about the life we'd have when we were in college I secretly thought I'd change my name, this is what I want." Rory was gently rubbing Logan's hand with her thumb trying to soothe his frazzled nerves.

Once Logan got over his shock, he realized he liked the idea of sharing his last name with Rory and their child. He knew it was old-fashioned but he liked the idea of them being 'The Huntzberger's', they had a chance to break a pattern and give their child a family and legacy to be proud of. "Are you sure?" Logan finally said, still a little stunned.

Rory smiled slightly and nodded. "I'm sure."

Logan grinned, pulled her as close as possible and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. He didn't want to make a more intimate public display at Emily Gilmore's dinner table. He didn't care how much she seemed to have mellowed, there were still lines he refused to cross.

Emily smiled at the sweet moment between her granddaughter and soon-to-be-husband, at least if she had any say in the matter, she knew Lorelai was fuming and Emily knew that Rory was going to need someone on her side and happily informed the room of such. "Rory, it's perfectly fine for you to want to take your husband's name. I did, it was the custom at the time but I'm perfectly happy with the choice. I believe your friend Lane also took her husband's last name. Even now, it's very common for women to take their husband's last name. I think you're making a fine choice." Emily smiled and felt some sadness when obvious relief crossed Rory's face.

"Thank you, grandma," Rory said with a smile.

Lorelai couldn't believe what she was hearing, she wanted to argue against what Rory was saying but since she had been shut down once already she didn't want to speak up and risk a real fight between her and Rory. Instead, she slammed down her cutlery and stormed to the guest room she and Luke were staying in.

For the first time in many years, Lorelai left a meal unfinished.

* * *

Boxing day was relatively quiet after the adventures of Christmas day. Rory had spent most of the day bouncing between reading her new copies of Alice in Wonderland which she picked up when she needed a break from What to Expect When Your Expecting, she knew that if she was going to do this she was going to need to know more then 'babies cry and poop a lot' so she did what she always did in times of uncertainty, she hit the books. After a few hours of working herself into a near panic, she decided to do a little work. She knew that she wouldn't be able to focus enough to write another piece, so she mostly edited and sorted through the Letters to the Editor that they were able to salvage from Sal's reign.

At around 3 pm, Lorelai insisted that no Christmas was complete without National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Ernest Saves Christmas. Rory thought that watching a movie or two would be a good distraction from her work and her wandering thoughts about babies and childbirth and headed down to the living room. Rory had been surprised that Emily had put a TV in the living room and that Lorelai thought it was a good place to have a movie night. Rory took a look at the Gilmore patented food spread that was laid out and sighed, she didn't feel like tempting her mourning sickness by over-eating junk food.

"What's wrong sweets?" Lorelai chirped when she heard Rory sigh. "Don't tell me you don't have the stomach for our movie night staples."

"Well, we will have dinner in a few hours," Rory stated trying to give Lorelai another reason for her reluctance.

"This coming from the girl who had four thanksgiving dinners! Four! It was a world record for the number of thanksgiving dinners eaten in one day! You can rally!"

"The baby's just not the biggest fan of junk food right now, and I've finally managed to get back on speaking terms with my stomach and I just don't want to tempt fate."

"Stupid Huntzberger blood diluting the gene pool."

"Mom, the gene pool was already diluted, you're not capable of mitosis, you did need some help there."

"Yeah, but you might as well have been my exact copy."

Rory simply sighed and changed the subject. "Anyway, before we get this marathon going, I have some news," Rory stated apprehensively.

"You're moving home?" Lorelai half-joked. "The big city too much for this small-town girl?"

"No, the big city and I are getting along fine, this is about Trix."

"Trix?" Lorelai said confused.

"And dad," Rory said nervously.

"What about your dad?"

"Well, I got a call from a lawyer from the firm that handled grandpa's will and apparently Trix left me quite a bit of money. It was kept separate from grandpa's estate and the lawyer we dealt with was different than the one who handled the will, so it was missed."

"What exactly did she leave you, Rory?" Lorelai said harshly.

"From what I could tell, she left me just about everything, including her house in England," Rory said firmly. She knew Lorelai was close to blowing her lid and she didn't want to get too nervous, as she often did in these situations.

"What did you do?" Lorelai said coldly.

"I accepted it after I had a lawyer friend of mine take a look at the paperwork to make sure it was all above board."

Lorelai stared at Rory for a minute, gaping like a fish, trying to wrap her head around the thought of Rory inheriting a significant amount from Trix. "You said something about your dad too?" Lorelai said haltingly.

"Yeah," Rory said nervously. "I saw him the weekend I told Grandma about the baby and his mom was there, along with Gigi."

"Oh, Rory, what did they do?" Lorelai said angrily. "I wish you'd told me you were meeting with them; I would've talked you out of it. Meeting with those people brings more trouble than a meddling Emily Gilmore." Lorelai was gaining speed to launch into a full-blown Gilmore Girl rant, but before she could get going, Rory cut her off.

"It actually went well."

"You've got to be kidding me." Lorelai scoffed in disbelief.

"I'm not. I had a nice chat with Grandma Hayden, who was very nice and apologized for the way they treated me, and dad was great. He was a little taken aback by the idea of becoming a grandpa, but he came around once he got over the shock."

"Where are the strings, Pinocchio? They would not apologize without strings!"

Rory hesitated for a minute before speaking. "Apparently, they thought that dad followed us to Stars Hollow instead of going to Princeton and blamed us for blowing up their dynastic plan. They realized a year or so after the dinner that would rival cocktail-shrimp hands, that dad had been on the east coast most of the time they thought he was with us and wanted to know more about me. They called grandpa who filled them in on my life up to that point and kept them notified when they asked. They decided that I was worthy of what the Hayden birthright and set up a trust fund for me." Rory said calmer then she anticipated.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Lorelai screeched.

"No, I'm not."

"You cannot accept it. Rory, these people are horrible and manipulative, they're going to force you into some god awful thing if you accept this money. Do you really want Friday night dinner with the Hayden's?"

"Monthly dinners with my dad, sister and grandmother don't sound that bad to me actually."

"Rory! You can't be serious! I can't go to the Hayden's once a month for dinner. Do you have any idea how far Boston is from Stars Hollow?"

"Considering I've made that trip quite a few times, I know that it's exactly two hours and 45 minutes to dad's house from your house." Lorelai's eyes widened in shock at how Rory referred to the crap shack. "And you're not invited to dinner at Grandma Hayden's so, it doesn't matter that you can't get there."

"Rory-" Lorelai started to protest but Rory cut her off.

"You know what mom unless you're going to stop talking so we can watch these movies, I'm going back upstairs because I'm done talking about this with you."

Lorelai stared at Rory in shock as Rory stared her down, forcing her to decide what she wanted to do. In the end, Lorelai reached for the remote and turned on the movie, starting one of the more awkward movie nights in Gilmore Girls' history.

* * *

**AN: I'm going to leave the poll up for a few more days before I take it down, so if you want to vote this is your last chance! **

**Review if you please!**


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